Arimai
Curmudgeon
He knows. He just doesn't have romantic feelings for her. He sees her as a child.
Still Defiant! SI-OC [Marvel/DC]
Makes sense. Daniel is more like a father figure or big brother type anyway.
Arimai
Curmudgeon
Which is why he was so relieved when Chloe interrupted and why his internal dialog said, "Saved by the Bell."
- Location
- Eart
Yes and no, Daniel is rather fighting with himself because he believes he should be "responsible" that includes not taking advantage of the still younger girl who clearly shows preference for him, if Carol were a little older or less intense in her displays of affection Daniel would have been more permissive.
34: Bon appetit
New
- Location
- Eart
34: Bon appetit
The sound of sizzling oil along with the aroma of spices and seasonings mixed together began to spread unnaturally, like a tide it invisibly extended through one of the main streets of San Francisco, causing all the pedestrians passing by to suddenly stop, their noses beginning to inhale while their mouths watered uncontrollably.
"That smell seems really good."
"Where is that aroma coming from?"
"I've never smelled anything like this before, should we try it?"
"My mouth is watering just from smelling it!"
Person after person began heading towards a modest restaurant on the corner of the street, a place that mostly went unnoticed on most days, but not today. Today, a wave of almost hypnotized people began walking towards its doors.
Inside the establishment, in a kitchen darkened by shadows, a thing—because it could not be described any other way—was stirring the broth of an enormous pot.
"Only the meat is missing," its whisper was low.
Olive-sized eyes as black as coal looked inside the pot. Its swollen face looked like a deformed mass full of lumps, its pale skin peeling off its body like layers of boiled onion while the boiling steam came out of every pore of its skin with each breath.
Only the torn and tattered suit it wore on its body, which seemed more like a bad parody of what was once the attire of a real cook, was the last remnant of a humanity already lost.
In its left hand was a long kitchen knife, its handle fused with the flesh of its hand in such a way that it seemed it could never let go.
"Hello!? Is anyone here?"
A man, the first to be drawn by the mysterious aroma, looked at the ajar door from which that fantastic smell was coming and couldn't help but swallow.
"Of course! We are open, come in, the food is almost ready..."
The voice was grotesque, a crude imitation of what a human voice would be. For a split second the man hesitated, then the smell returned and his eyes clouded. Slowly he entered, and soon after, more and more people began to follow him.
The man walked through the dark restaurant, looked at the disordered tables and scattered chairs, frowned, and his eyes began to clear. His survival instinct started to surface. Why had he entered?
His nose tingled, and he remembered that smell. Then he looked towards the kitchen and started moving in that direction despite something inside him telling him he shouldn't.
When he entered, a horrible scene greeted him.
The whole place was a mess, absolutely vomit-inducing, with animal remains, garbage, and rotten vegetables scattered everywhere, staining the floor, the walls, and even the ceiling.
And in the center of it all was what could only be called a monster. Its enormous figure, over two meters tall, slowly turned to look at him, its horrible appearance barely hidden by the steam coming from its obese body.
The man felt adrenaline fill his body, and a deep, primal fear quickly began to bloom inside him, making his teeth chatter uncontrollably.
"It's good that you arrived~, the broth is just right. Only the main ingredient is missing."
The man tried to run, but an enormous greasy hand, dripping with oil and steam, moved quickly and grabbed him by the waist.
"No! Help me!"
His screams woke the other people who had entered after him from their trance. Their eyes cleared, and with horror, they saw the man being thrown into the boiling pot, his screams dying along with him.
Then chaos erupted.
"Don't run!, it would be bad if you hurt your bodies~"
.
.
.
Daniel flew through the air at great speed. According to the report Natasha had given him, Castro Street in San Francisco had descended into chaos when what could only be described as a monster began "capturing" pedestrians. The local police had tried to contain the situation but found it impossible. As promised, SHIELD had been on alert and, noticing the "unnatural" aspect of the incident, had contacted him immediately.
Daniel broke through a cloud causing it to "explode" his superior eyesight quickly focused on the city below him catching a cloud of black smoke billowing from a burning police car, heard gunfire and screams, and soon his eyes found his target. Without hesitation, he dove towards the ground.
Using his super speed, he intercepted the enormous greasy hand that had been about to grab the head of a child who seemed to have tripped while fleeing. His fist shot out without hesitation, striking the monster's ugly face and sending its obese body hurtling backwards, back to where it seemed to have emerged.
"It's Defiant! Defiant has arrived!" The child who had been screaming in terror now looked at him in awe, and Daniel almost thought he saw stars in the boy's eyes.
"Everything is okay now. Do you know where your parents are?" Daniel asked as he helped him up from the ground, never taking his eyes off the spot where he had sent the monster flying.
"Can I have your autograph?!" The boy seemed too excited to answer. Fortunately, a worried voice was heard not far away, and Daniel saw a woman with tears in her eyes running towards them. Without hesitation, he picked up the boy and carried him to her.
"Look, Mom, it's Defiant!" the boy said to his mother, who hugged him tightly. Then she looked at Daniel with gratitude and nodded at him with a smile.
"Yes, honey, it's Defiant."
"Come on, it's better if you move back," Daniel said, and the woman nodded, thanking him once more before running off with her son.
Daniel did a quick search to ensure no one else was nearby. The local police had already begun to surround the area, and he knew SHIELD would be close as well.
Once he was sure everything was clear, he looked towards where he had sent his enemy flying. He could hear it, still alive and undoubtedly angry.
And his thought was correct. Suddenly, an explosion shook the area, and a burst of boiling steam shot out in all directions at high speed.
Seeing this, Daniel didn't hesitate and blew a cold wind that clashed with the steam wave, preventing it from spreading beyond the police perimeter.
"YOU INTERRUPTED IN MY KITCHEN!"
The voice reverberated through the area, sounding strange, guttural, and impossibly deep.
There was an explosion in the air and a Big figure shot towards Daniel, who quickly dodged to the side and prepared his counterattack.
"People are not on the menu!" His fist struck the back of what could only be called a deformed parody of a chef, pressing it into the ground and creating a huge crater.
"Agh!?"
The monster spat out a mouthful of what seemed to be blood, though strangely there were boiled vegetables in it.
Daniel looked at it, then at his fist. Hitting it felt somewhat odd, but he still managed to do significant damage despite not attacking with all his strength. This told him that the monster wasn't too strong, so he should be able to kill it easily. But maybe he didn't need to kill it.
He considered another option. If this monster had the same origin as Greg, capturing it alive could help in his investigation of the M Gene. Of course, there was a possibility that this monster was created differently, but Daniel had a hunch that wasn't the case.
"Alright, I've decided. You're coming back with me. I suggest you don't resist because this will hurt you more than it will hurt me if you do," Daniel began to think as he looked around, maybe he should have created that V-element string after all.
For now, some metal should help to wrap this guy up.
"H-how could I leave? My main dish isn't finished yet!" The ground suddenly shook as the monster struggled. Daniel placed a foot on it, making it sink deeper into the ground.
Daniel frowned, thinking about the monster's words. Main dish? What did that mean? Remembering SHIELD's reports and what he knew about how food was served in restaurants, Daniel couldn't help but have a bad feeling.
"You better not have done what I think you did, or my kindness will end," Daniel decided to drop the joviality. He would break the monster's arms and legs and take it like that; he'd find something to tie it up with later.
"APPETIZER!" the monster roared. Daniel felt his senses sharpen, his eyes slowly turning towards the restaurant as he heard something explode inside.
His pupils slightly contracted as he saw a blurry figure shooting towards him at high speed. It moved fast, so fast that Daniel barely managed to step back, dodging its attack.
Daniel frowned as he saw the thing that had tried to attack him. Describing it as merely horrible would be generous.
What had once been a human body now resembled a grotesque parody, more like a heap of flesh mixed with various kitchen ingredients, molded in a way that barely seemed humanoid.
"H-how is it?! My specially prepared Saltimbocca! Its meat is only 13 years old, soft, tender, and at its best point~" the monster stood up, praising its creation with excitement.
Thirteen years old? Daniel looked closer this time, noting the small stature of the thing, an understanding dawning on him immediately and darkening his expression.
His figure vanished, and before the monster could react, Daniel was in front of it, his fist breaking through the air and striking its chest with great force. The flesh exploded, and his arm pierced through the layers of meat, making the blood splatter like a burst water balloon.
"Buagh!?" The monster writhed and tried to move away, making Daniel frown. Why wasn't it dead? He pulled his arm out, covered in dark blood, and saw the hole he had created trying to close on its own, albeit slowly. Clearly, it had only a minor regenerative factor.
Well, this was fine. He had let his momentary anger take over and almost killed his test subject. That would have been a wasted opportunity.
While he was thinking this, his face suddenly received a powerful impact, causing his head to turn slightly to one side. His eyes followed the owner of the fist still on his cheek, noting that it was the so-called "appetizer" that had attacked him.
It was a strong punch, but nothing that could cause real harm. He reached out to grab the second monster's arm, but it disappeared in a blur the next instant.
"More speed than strength, huh?" Daniel followed with his eyes the figure moving around him in circles causing a gale of air to begin to form.
The "Appetizer" lunged at him again but this time Daniel easily stepped aside, his hand lunged like a knife slashing towards his neck, there was no resistance, it pierced his flesh cleanly and the deformed head with no facial features was sent flying through the air, the body like a puppet with the strings cut fell rolling on the ground uncontrollably.
"I-Impossible!" the "chef" screamed in horror, seeing his creation destroyed in an instant.
But his shock was extinguished the next instant as Daniel's fist appeared in front of him, striking with enough force to cave in his face and send his deformed teeth flying.
Seeing the enormous body fall backward, Daniel took a deep breath and blew, causing ice to form and encase nearly the entire monster in a block of ice, except for its head.
Then he took out his phone and made a call.
"What's up, D-boy?" Tony's tired voice came through.
Looking at the fallen monster, Daniel smiled before responding.
"Tell me, have you ever seen a monster?"
.
.
.
Tony sipped his freshly brewed coffee. He had been happily resting, healing his wounds while watching the news when Daniel suddenly called him. Of course, he had also received an alert from SHIELD, not to mention he had known about the incident almost as soon as it began.
Hacking into the private servers of the international agency had been pretty easy for him, after all.
He had considered putting on his armor and heading there directly. After all, Malibu wasn't too far from San Francisco, but before he could do so, Pepper had stopped him. That woman had been watching over him like a hawk since he decided to leave the hospital.
"Defiant will be able to handle this alone," she had said, and Tony couldn't deny that. So he decided to watch what was happening through surveillance cameras and official reports, whether from the police or SHIELD.
Which turned out to be quite inefficient. High-quality security cameras weren't very abundant at the time, so he only received fairly mediocre images. Although the official reports had been more enlightening, they barely gave him an idea of what was happening.
Maybe he should upgrade the global surveillance systems?
His thoughts were interrupted by Jarvis's voice.
"Defiant is approaching, sir."
Tony decided to put such thoughts aside for later. He walked to his sea-view balcony to watch as Daniel arrived from the skies, carrying a massive block of ice in one of his hands.
No, it wasn't just a block of ice.
Suddenly, the little appetite he had been feeling vanished upon seeing the horrible thing Daniel had brought with him.
"You just ruined my morning," Tony said, setting his coffee aside.
"Join the club," Daniel said, setting his prisoner down on Tony's balcony.
Tony approached cautiously, looking at the monster with a mix of curiosity and disgust.
"So what am I looking at, D-boy?" Although he had heard reports about what was happening in San Francisco, seeing it in person was vastly different from just hearing a description that barely did justice to the thing before him.
"In simple terms? A monster. In more complicated terms? It's better if you sit down since it'll take me a while to explain," Daniel said, entering and looking around. It was a pretty decent house.
"Jarvis?" he said into the air, and the voice of the A.I. responded.
"It is a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Defiant."
"The pleasure is mine. Could you do me a favor? Can you project the data on this?" he said, pulling a USB drive from his belt, which he had taken before leaving Smallville.
"I have no problem doing that," the A.I. replied.
"Should I be worried? I need to remind you that Jarvis is not looking for a job," Tony said, watching Daniel give orders to Jarvis. Of course, this was possible because Jarvis knew Daniel was Tony's ally; otherwise, he wouldn't have obeyed.
"Actually, I think I might consider the option. After all, my current salary is not that good," Jarvis said.
That almost made Tony spit out his coffee; he didn't expect Jarvis to remember that.
"Well, I know a good lawyer. Maybe you'd like his number for a labor lawsuit," Daniel said, plugging the USB into a port Jarvis had unlocked in one of the walls. It seemed Tony had designed his house to be able to work anywhere in it.
"No, don't encourage him," Tony complained.
Their conversation was interrupted when Jarvis scanned the data on the USB and projected several screens with its content on them.
Tony looked at the data bewildered. Although biology was not his main field of study, that didn't mean he didn't have some knowledge in it. In fact, he had studied a bit about the human body when he was younger to impress some pretty doctors.
"Look, observe here, this is the normal DNA of a human being."
Daniel began to explain all his research. He started to tell Tony about Greg, his mutations, and specifically focused on the M Gene. It was an extremely detailed genetics class that lasted for some time.
"With all that said, I think this guy will present the same genetic anomaly," he concluded and looked at Tony, who seemed thoughtful while observing the data.
The man was truly a genius. He was able to keep up with everything and learn on the fly about the things he didn't know without forgetting anything. Daniel never had to explain something twice.
"This is like taking human DNA and simply tearing it apart until you get the most grotesque and nonsensical form possible and still keep it together. No, more than that, pushing it beyond the logical," Tony was both interested and astonished while being horrified.
"Yes, and I think the cases of people turning into these things will continue to increase until I find a solution, until we find a solution." Normally, Daniel wouldn't have involved Tony in this. After all, genetics was not the man's specialty.
But he had no other choice. He had already gone to Lara. That's right, Daniel had already presented the same data to Carol's mother, allowing her to use the much more advanced Kryptonian technology on Greg's remains in the hope of finding a quick solution to fix this problem before it became something bigger.
The woman had been as or more stunned than Tony. She had conducted multiple deep scans but achieved nothing significant. In her words, this was something illogical, something that even advanced Kryptonian science had no way to fix.
That, of course, deeply disappointed Daniel. Part of him thought that with the Fortress at his back, any scientific problem he encountered could be resolved immediately and easily. He was wrong.
This was something that needed something different, a distinct approach. No matter how intelligent and knowledgeable Lara was, she was still just an A.I. and had thus lost that spark, the spark that the real Lara surely had, an unpredictable ingenuity that only the insane or unparalleled geniuses possessed, something that Daniel himself did not have.
To solve an illogical problem, one needs to think beyond all logic. So Daniel had been thinking that to solve this, he needed to gather the most incredible minds this world had.
Starting, without a doubt, with Tony Stark.
"Looks like I'm going to have to study a lot. Well, getting another degree never hurts, right?" Tony said, trying to lighten the mood, though he didn't quite succeed.
After all, they didn't know how many people had this anomaly. Could it be a thousand? Ten thousand? A million? Maybe more? Just thinking about it sent chills down Tony's spine. What would happen if suddenly everyone changed at the same time? What would happen to the world?
Tony didn't expect that becoming a superhero would literally involve fighting monsters, although he supposed he should have expected it.
"How much intelligence do you think they retain? Do you think we can talk to them?" he asked, approaching the captured monster.
"You want to talk to them?" Daniel couldn't help but blink in surprise.
"They were once human, weren't they? We don't know how they changed, what triggered it. Maybe we can find out and start from there."
Well, that was actually a good idea.
"Well, I don't think this guy is going anywhere."
Suddenly, Jarol, who had been pretending to be unconscious, felt two fierce gazes upon him. His tiny eyes opened nervously and then with horror as he noticed both heroes looking at him.
Like a pair of wolves eyeing a defenseless lamb.
.
.
.
Note:
Another chapter, some action to contrast with the more relaxed chapters. Daniel has started seeking help from the most incredible minds in the world. I wonder who he has on that list. I guess we'll find out in the next chapters.
Remember to comment, and if you notice any errors, don't hesitate to point them out. I'll fix them as quickly as I can. Thanks for all the support.
You can already find the next chapter (and several more chapters) of this story on Patreon (patreon.com/EmmaCruzader) All the support received is appreciated ;D
The sound of sizzling oil along with the aroma of spices and seasonings mixed together began to spread unnaturally, like a tide it invisibly extended through one of the main streets of San Francisco, causing all the pedestrians passing by to suddenly stop, their noses beginning to inhale while their mouths watered uncontrollably.
"That smell seems really good."
"Where is that aroma coming from?"
"I've never smelled anything like this before, should we try it?"
"My mouth is watering just from smelling it!"
Person after person began heading towards a modest restaurant on the corner of the street, a place that mostly went unnoticed on most days, but not today. Today, a wave of almost hypnotized people began walking towards its doors.
Inside the establishment, in a kitchen darkened by shadows, a thing—because it could not be described any other way—was stirring the broth of an enormous pot.
"Only the meat is missing," its whisper was low.
Olive-sized eyes as black as coal looked inside the pot. Its swollen face looked like a deformed mass full of lumps, its pale skin peeling off its body like layers of boiled onion while the boiling steam came out of every pore of its skin with each breath.
Only the torn and tattered suit it wore on its body, which seemed more like a bad parody of what was once the attire of a real cook, was the last remnant of a humanity already lost.
In its left hand was a long kitchen knife, its handle fused with the flesh of its hand in such a way that it seemed it could never let go.
"Hello!? Is anyone here?"
A man, the first to be drawn by the mysterious aroma, looked at the ajar door from which that fantastic smell was coming and couldn't help but swallow.
"Of course! We are open, come in, the food is almost ready..."
The voice was grotesque, a crude imitation of what a human voice would be. For a split second the man hesitated, then the smell returned and his eyes clouded. Slowly he entered, and soon after, more and more people began to follow him.
The man walked through the dark restaurant, looked at the disordered tables and scattered chairs, frowned, and his eyes began to clear. His survival instinct started to surface. Why had he entered?
His nose tingled, and he remembered that smell. Then he looked towards the kitchen and started moving in that direction despite something inside him telling him he shouldn't.
When he entered, a horrible scene greeted him.
The whole place was a mess, absolutely vomit-inducing, with animal remains, garbage, and rotten vegetables scattered everywhere, staining the floor, the walls, and even the ceiling.
And in the center of it all was what could only be called a monster. Its enormous figure, over two meters tall, slowly turned to look at him, its horrible appearance barely hidden by the steam coming from its obese body.
The man felt adrenaline fill his body, and a deep, primal fear quickly began to bloom inside him, making his teeth chatter uncontrollably.
"It's good that you arrived~, the broth is just right. Only the main ingredient is missing."
The man tried to run, but an enormous greasy hand, dripping with oil and steam, moved quickly and grabbed him by the waist.
"No! Help me!"
His screams woke the other people who had entered after him from their trance. Their eyes cleared, and with horror, they saw the man being thrown into the boiling pot, his screams dying along with him.
Then chaos erupted.
"Don't run!, it would be bad if you hurt your bodies~"
.
.
.
Daniel flew through the air at great speed. According to the report Natasha had given him, Castro Street in San Francisco had descended into chaos when what could only be described as a monster began "capturing" pedestrians. The local police had tried to contain the situation but found it impossible. As promised, SHIELD had been on alert and, noticing the "unnatural" aspect of the incident, had contacted him immediately.
Daniel broke through a cloud causing it to "explode" his superior eyesight quickly focused on the city below him catching a cloud of black smoke billowing from a burning police car, heard gunfire and screams, and soon his eyes found his target. Without hesitation, he dove towards the ground.
Using his super speed, he intercepted the enormous greasy hand that had been about to grab the head of a child who seemed to have tripped while fleeing. His fist shot out without hesitation, striking the monster's ugly face and sending its obese body hurtling backwards, back to where it seemed to have emerged.
"It's Defiant! Defiant has arrived!" The child who had been screaming in terror now looked at him in awe, and Daniel almost thought he saw stars in the boy's eyes.
"Everything is okay now. Do you know where your parents are?" Daniel asked as he helped him up from the ground, never taking his eyes off the spot where he had sent the monster flying.
"Can I have your autograph?!" The boy seemed too excited to answer. Fortunately, a worried voice was heard not far away, and Daniel saw a woman with tears in her eyes running towards them. Without hesitation, he picked up the boy and carried him to her.
"Look, Mom, it's Defiant!" the boy said to his mother, who hugged him tightly. Then she looked at Daniel with gratitude and nodded at him with a smile.
"Yes, honey, it's Defiant."
"Come on, it's better if you move back," Daniel said, and the woman nodded, thanking him once more before running off with her son.
Daniel did a quick search to ensure no one else was nearby. The local police had already begun to surround the area, and he knew SHIELD would be close as well.
Once he was sure everything was clear, he looked towards where he had sent his enemy flying. He could hear it, still alive and undoubtedly angry.
And his thought was correct. Suddenly, an explosion shook the area, and a burst of boiling steam shot out in all directions at high speed.
Seeing this, Daniel didn't hesitate and blew a cold wind that clashed with the steam wave, preventing it from spreading beyond the police perimeter.
"YOU INTERRUPTED IN MY KITCHEN!"
The voice reverberated through the area, sounding strange, guttural, and impossibly deep.
There was an explosion in the air and a Big figure shot towards Daniel, who quickly dodged to the side and prepared his counterattack.
"People are not on the menu!" His fist struck the back of what could only be called a deformed parody of a chef, pressing it into the ground and creating a huge crater.
"Agh!?"
The monster spat out a mouthful of what seemed to be blood, though strangely there were boiled vegetables in it.
Daniel looked at it, then at his fist. Hitting it felt somewhat odd, but he still managed to do significant damage despite not attacking with all his strength. This told him that the monster wasn't too strong, so he should be able to kill it easily. But maybe he didn't need to kill it.
He considered another option. If this monster had the same origin as Greg, capturing it alive could help in his investigation of the M Gene. Of course, there was a possibility that this monster was created differently, but Daniel had a hunch that wasn't the case.
"Alright, I've decided. You're coming back with me. I suggest you don't resist because this will hurt you more than it will hurt me if you do," Daniel began to think as he looked around, maybe he should have created that V-element string after all.
For now, some metal should help to wrap this guy up.
"H-how could I leave? My main dish isn't finished yet!" The ground suddenly shook as the monster struggled. Daniel placed a foot on it, making it sink deeper into the ground.
Daniel frowned, thinking about the monster's words. Main dish? What did that mean? Remembering SHIELD's reports and what he knew about how food was served in restaurants, Daniel couldn't help but have a bad feeling.
"You better not have done what I think you did, or my kindness will end," Daniel decided to drop the joviality. He would break the monster's arms and legs and take it like that; he'd find something to tie it up with later.
"APPETIZER!" the monster roared. Daniel felt his senses sharpen, his eyes slowly turning towards the restaurant as he heard something explode inside.
His pupils slightly contracted as he saw a blurry figure shooting towards him at high speed. It moved fast, so fast that Daniel barely managed to step back, dodging its attack.
Daniel frowned as he saw the thing that had tried to attack him. Describing it as merely horrible would be generous.
What had once been a human body now resembled a grotesque parody, more like a heap of flesh mixed with various kitchen ingredients, molded in a way that barely seemed humanoid.
"H-how is it?! My specially prepared Saltimbocca! Its meat is only 13 years old, soft, tender, and at its best point~" the monster stood up, praising its creation with excitement.
Thirteen years old? Daniel looked closer this time, noting the small stature of the thing, an understanding dawning on him immediately and darkening his expression.
His figure vanished, and before the monster could react, Daniel was in front of it, his fist breaking through the air and striking its chest with great force. The flesh exploded, and his arm pierced through the layers of meat, making the blood splatter like a burst water balloon.
"Buagh!?" The monster writhed and tried to move away, making Daniel frown. Why wasn't it dead? He pulled his arm out, covered in dark blood, and saw the hole he had created trying to close on its own, albeit slowly. Clearly, it had only a minor regenerative factor.
Well, this was fine. He had let his momentary anger take over and almost killed his test subject. That would have been a wasted opportunity.
While he was thinking this, his face suddenly received a powerful impact, causing his head to turn slightly to one side. His eyes followed the owner of the fist still on his cheek, noting that it was the so-called "appetizer" that had attacked him.
It was a strong punch, but nothing that could cause real harm. He reached out to grab the second monster's arm, but it disappeared in a blur the next instant.
"More speed than strength, huh?" Daniel followed with his eyes the figure moving around him in circles causing a gale of air to begin to form.
The "Appetizer" lunged at him again but this time Daniel easily stepped aside, his hand lunged like a knife slashing towards his neck, there was no resistance, it pierced his flesh cleanly and the deformed head with no facial features was sent flying through the air, the body like a puppet with the strings cut fell rolling on the ground uncontrollably.
"I-Impossible!" the "chef" screamed in horror, seeing his creation destroyed in an instant.
But his shock was extinguished the next instant as Daniel's fist appeared in front of him, striking with enough force to cave in his face and send his deformed teeth flying.
Seeing the enormous body fall backward, Daniel took a deep breath and blew, causing ice to form and encase nearly the entire monster in a block of ice, except for its head.
Then he took out his phone and made a call.
"What's up, D-boy?" Tony's tired voice came through.
Looking at the fallen monster, Daniel smiled before responding.
"Tell me, have you ever seen a monster?"
.
.
.
Tony sipped his freshly brewed coffee. He had been happily resting, healing his wounds while watching the news when Daniel suddenly called him. Of course, he had also received an alert from SHIELD, not to mention he had known about the incident almost as soon as it began.
Hacking into the private servers of the international agency had been pretty easy for him, after all.
He had considered putting on his armor and heading there directly. After all, Malibu wasn't too far from San Francisco, but before he could do so, Pepper had stopped him. That woman had been watching over him like a hawk since he decided to leave the hospital.
"Defiant will be able to handle this alone," she had said, and Tony couldn't deny that. So he decided to watch what was happening through surveillance cameras and official reports, whether from the police or SHIELD.
Which turned out to be quite inefficient. High-quality security cameras weren't very abundant at the time, so he only received fairly mediocre images. Although the official reports had been more enlightening, they barely gave him an idea of what was happening.
Maybe he should upgrade the global surveillance systems?
His thoughts were interrupted by Jarvis's voice.
"Defiant is approaching, sir."
Tony decided to put such thoughts aside for later. He walked to his sea-view balcony to watch as Daniel arrived from the skies, carrying a massive block of ice in one of his hands.
No, it wasn't just a block of ice.
Suddenly, the little appetite he had been feeling vanished upon seeing the horrible thing Daniel had brought with him.
"You just ruined my morning," Tony said, setting his coffee aside.
"Join the club," Daniel said, setting his prisoner down on Tony's balcony.
Tony approached cautiously, looking at the monster with a mix of curiosity and disgust.
"So what am I looking at, D-boy?" Although he had heard reports about what was happening in San Francisco, seeing it in person was vastly different from just hearing a description that barely did justice to the thing before him.
"In simple terms? A monster. In more complicated terms? It's better if you sit down since it'll take me a while to explain," Daniel said, entering and looking around. It was a pretty decent house.
"Jarvis?" he said into the air, and the voice of the A.I. responded.
"It is a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Defiant."
"The pleasure is mine. Could you do me a favor? Can you project the data on this?" he said, pulling a USB drive from his belt, which he had taken before leaving Smallville.
"I have no problem doing that," the A.I. replied.
"Should I be worried? I need to remind you that Jarvis is not looking for a job," Tony said, watching Daniel give orders to Jarvis. Of course, this was possible because Jarvis knew Daniel was Tony's ally; otherwise, he wouldn't have obeyed.
"Actually, I think I might consider the option. After all, my current salary is not that good," Jarvis said.
That almost made Tony spit out his coffee; he didn't expect Jarvis to remember that.
"Well, I know a good lawyer. Maybe you'd like his number for a labor lawsuit," Daniel said, plugging the USB into a port Jarvis had unlocked in one of the walls. It seemed Tony had designed his house to be able to work anywhere in it.
"No, don't encourage him," Tony complained.
Their conversation was interrupted when Jarvis scanned the data on the USB and projected several screens with its content on them.
Tony looked at the data bewildered. Although biology was not his main field of study, that didn't mean he didn't have some knowledge in it. In fact, he had studied a bit about the human body when he was younger to impress some pretty doctors.
"Look, observe here, this is the normal DNA of a human being."
Daniel began to explain all his research. He started to tell Tony about Greg, his mutations, and specifically focused on the M Gene. It was an extremely detailed genetics class that lasted for some time.
"With all that said, I think this guy will present the same genetic anomaly," he concluded and looked at Tony, who seemed thoughtful while observing the data.
The man was truly a genius. He was able to keep up with everything and learn on the fly about the things he didn't know without forgetting anything. Daniel never had to explain something twice.
"This is like taking human DNA and simply tearing it apart until you get the most grotesque and nonsensical form possible and still keep it together. No, more than that, pushing it beyond the logical," Tony was both interested and astonished while being horrified.
"Yes, and I think the cases of people turning into these things will continue to increase until I find a solution, until we find a solution." Normally, Daniel wouldn't have involved Tony in this. After all, genetics was not the man's specialty.
But he had no other choice. He had already gone to Lara. That's right, Daniel had already presented the same data to Carol's mother, allowing her to use the much more advanced Kryptonian technology on Greg's remains in the hope of finding a quick solution to fix this problem before it became something bigger.
The woman had been as or more stunned than Tony. She had conducted multiple deep scans but achieved nothing significant. In her words, this was something illogical, something that even advanced Kryptonian science had no way to fix.
That, of course, deeply disappointed Daniel. Part of him thought that with the Fortress at his back, any scientific problem he encountered could be resolved immediately and easily. He was wrong.
This was something that needed something different, a distinct approach. No matter how intelligent and knowledgeable Lara was, she was still just an A.I. and had thus lost that spark, the spark that the real Lara surely had, an unpredictable ingenuity that only the insane or unparalleled geniuses possessed, something that Daniel himself did not have.
To solve an illogical problem, one needs to think beyond all logic. So Daniel had been thinking that to solve this, he needed to gather the most incredible minds this world had.
Starting, without a doubt, with Tony Stark.
"Looks like I'm going to have to study a lot. Well, getting another degree never hurts, right?" Tony said, trying to lighten the mood, though he didn't quite succeed.
After all, they didn't know how many people had this anomaly. Could it be a thousand? Ten thousand? A million? Maybe more? Just thinking about it sent chills down Tony's spine. What would happen if suddenly everyone changed at the same time? What would happen to the world?
Tony didn't expect that becoming a superhero would literally involve fighting monsters, although he supposed he should have expected it.
"How much intelligence do you think they retain? Do you think we can talk to them?" he asked, approaching the captured monster.
"You want to talk to them?" Daniel couldn't help but blink in surprise.
"They were once human, weren't they? We don't know how they changed, what triggered it. Maybe we can find out and start from there."
Well, that was actually a good idea.
"Well, I don't think this guy is going anywhere."
Suddenly, Jarol, who had been pretending to be unconscious, felt two fierce gazes upon him. His tiny eyes opened nervously and then with horror as he noticed both heroes looking at him.
Like a pair of wolves eyeing a defenseless lamb.
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Note:
Another chapter, some action to contrast with the more relaxed chapters. Daniel has started seeking help from the most incredible minds in the world. I wonder who he has on that list. I guess we'll find out in the next chapters.
Remember to comment, and if you notice any errors, don't hesitate to point them out. I'll fix them as quickly as I can. Thanks for all the support.
You can already find the next chapter (and several more chapters) of this story on Patreon (patreon.com/EmmaCruzader) All the support received is appreciated ;D
Arimai
Curmudgeon
When he received Daniel's unexpected call.
He had received an alert from SHIELD beforehand on the incident just after it began.
Look, this here is the DNA of a normal human being.
35: Arrested
New
- Location
- Eart
It's my birthday! Early chapter to celebrate ;D
35: Arrested
Fury looked at the screens projected in front of him with seriousness. As expected, the news had been quite hot lately. First, what happened in Gulmira, then the Defiant conference, followed by the destruction of the Stark Industries building, and the revelation that Tony Stark was Iron Man.
As if that wasn't enough, now there were images of a real monster circulating all over the world.
Yes, his job was beginning to get more stressful, and if he wasn't bald, he would have feared for his hair.
Suddenly, his personal communicator started to ring, and without hesitation, he answered.
"I have news," Natasha's voice came through, and Fury had to take a moment because there was something in her tone that he hadn't heard in a while.
"Agent Romanoff, tell me what happens"
After the monster in San Francisco was defeated and Daniel took it with him, S.H.I.E.L.D. realized that the direction the hero headed was towards Malibu. While they couldn't track him if he went any further, Fury believed that Defiant was going to meet Tony for some reason that he still didn't know but surely had to do with the prisoner he took.
Therefore, Natasha, who was already nearby, was sent to pay a visit to the billionaire at his mansion.
.
In Malibu, California, inside Tony Stark's house.
Natasha looked at the scene in front of her for a moment before responding.
"explaining it is a bit complicated. It's better if you come in person; they want to talk to you."
Fury on the other side of the line slightly frowned but nodded.
"I'll be there soon," he said, then hung up the call, and Natasha turned her attention back to Daniel and Tony, who were looking at the strangest and most grotesque being Natasha had the misfortune to see, which said a lot since she had seen very horrible things before.
"Listen, just tell us what we want, and everything will be easy," Tony said in a relaxed voice.
"Oh, you can refuse, and I'll make sure to turn your world into hell," Daniel threatened in a deep voice, deeper than his natural voice, making it clear he was making an effort.
Upon seeing them do such a thing, Natasha couldn't decide whether to laugh or feel amazed because it was actually working.
The monster, which was no longer frozen but imprisoned in what appeared to be an improvised cage made of energy shields, trembled, causing its onion-layered skin to shake unpleasantly.
It was strange and unsettling, a huge being over three meters tall shrinking like a scolded child. Natasha would certainly put it in her top ten strangest things she had seen in recent years.
"I-I don't know, I hated everything, I was very angry," the monster said through gritted teeth, its trembling turning into one of frustration, and its small dark eyes gained a clear glint of rage.
"Let's talk about those emotions. Why were you angry? What caused it?" Tony asked.
The monster squirmed, as if trying to remember.
Natasha didn't know exactly what Daniel or Tony were looking for with this, but seeing that the monster seemed unable to give an answer, she decided to intervene.
"Maybe being fired from the place where he worked for almost 20 years is the answer," she said. At her words, Daniel and Tony turned to look at her, making her shrug.
"What? S.H.I.E.L.D. finished cleaning the place and found some clues."
"Jarvis, why am I hearing about this now?" Tony asked, frowning.
"Sorry, sir. You seemed quite entertained, and I didn't want to interrupt your game."
That made both Daniel and Natasha almost snort.
"Well, I guess I can stop faking the voice," Daniel returned to his normal voice and looked at the monster, who now seemed more agitated upon hearing what Natasha had said.
"Tell me everything you learned about him," he said without turning to look at Natasha. She looked at him for a moment before nodding and beginning to speak.
"Jarol Holm, a Swedish immigrant who came to the United States with his family almost 30 years ago. There's not much to highlight in his story beyond his anger issues during his adolescence and violent tendencies that led him to be arrested several times. He calmed down for a while, took some cooking classes, and got a job at one of the oldest restaurants in San Francisco. Of course, over time, his hygiene... started to leave much to be desired. The constant complaints from customers led his boss to decide to fire him after many arguments. After that, well, I guess something happened to him."
The more Natasha spoke, the more it seemed Jarol remembered, shaking his head constantly until he heard the last part of her account.
"No!" he shouted, though it was more like a roar, steam pouring from his pores in waves, only being held back by the energy shields surrounding him.
"He couldn't fire me! He had no right!" he yelled, his fist slamming against the blue energy wall. Daniel and Tony looked at several screens projecting real-time data.
Before imprisoning Jarol, they had installed various sensors in his cell to monitor his condition, as well as in his body. The monster, of course, had been unable to resist.
"They're reacting to his anger," Tony said, astonished as he watched a screen showing cells inside Jarol agitating, changing, and altering in strange ways.
"Not just his anger, it's his emotions," Daniel said thoughtfully.
So, an emotional trigger... Where had he seen something like this before?
Monsters? An emotional trigger? An appearance and abilities related to what caused that surge of emotions?
Daniel suddenly stood still, absorbing this information, uncertain if what he thought it was could be correct or not.
He shook his head. No, this was a different world, unrelated to that place. It should be impossible for something like that to exist here.
But he knew he was just trying to deny it. He knew his own luck; of course, this had a high probability of being his fault. No, it wasn't his fault—or was it? It would be hard to know, and it didn't really matter. As long as he found a way to fix it, then it would be fine. He was Defiant, a superhero. Whether it was his fault or not, fixing this was his responsibility, and that wouldn't change.
He took a deep breath and sighed slowly.
"Well, this gives us a clue, though not a very useful one," How could emotions biologically affect living beings to the point of deforming their existence into something non-human? There was more to this than simple biological science—something mental. Thinking about it, he couldn't help but picture a blonde woman in his mind.
Yes, maybe he needed to talk to her again to investigate and clarify some things regarding this. Although, considering he had left without warning and hadn't sent any message in the past few days, she was probably very upset.
Well, in his defense, a lot of things had been happening, and she knew he was a busy man.
"if it's not too much to ask, I would like an explanation about this," Fury's voice arrived, though this time his arrival was no surprise to Daniel, who had been attentive to the sounds in case the literal monster in the room tried to escape.
Tony, who had been studying some of the collected data, waved his hand without looking at Fury and responded casually.
"I hope you went to the bathroom before coming because this might take a while."
Daniel began to think that he might try the teaching profession if he ever had time for it, though teaching didn't become his favorite thing instantly, it was certainly entertaining.
Of course, it helped that the students were intelligent, not counting Tony, and although Natasha and Fury weren't extraordinary geniuses, underestimating their intelligence would be a grave mistake.
It didn't take them long to summarize what was happening; they showed some of the findings and theories that Daniel had, and that Tony could corroborate even if he still wasn't an expert in genetics.
"So, something that may or may not be hidden in many or few people around the world makes people turn into these things for no reason?" After listening to the whole explanation, Fury spoke, pointing towards Jarol's cell; the monster had been isolated but was still in view for monitoring.
"Well, there might be a reason, though it's still a hypothesis, but we have enough evidence to show that this could be the right answer." Daniel then mentioned Jarol's situation and the emotional trigger, apart from extracting the information from Greg and Raza.
"The example of the former leader of the Ten Rings in Afghanistan is something Tony can explain better." At that, Tony nodded and began to detail his encounter with the man.
"I didn't think too much about it at the time, but now I feel that the emotional trigger theory makes a lot of sense. I didn't kill him immediately, I... wanted to see him suffer, to feel the same as I did," he touched his chest where the arc reactor was glowing.
"A slow and agonizing death," he was quite angry at that moment.
"Now I know that doing that was stupid and it came back to bite me immediately." Then he signaled, and Jarvis played some of the images of his encounter with Raza, images that had been taken by his armor.
He didn't show the entire encounter, just the important parts, like Raza's sudden transformation and the demonstration of his powers, and some parts of the fight.
Once he finished his explanation, Daniel stepped forward.
"I don't know exactly when or what happened to him, but thanks to the testimonies of several students, we can be clear that the boy Arkin had been getting into trouble before, well, the incident at his school. Emotional problems are more common in teenagers, but unlike Jarol or Raza, we don't have direct proof that this was his case, so we can only assume that it was and that something happened to cause him to change." This was why, even with three examples, they couldn't say for sure that an emotional trigger was really the key point.
Daniel frowned as he thought about this matter. In part, he felt responsible because Smallville was his home and base, and that something like this had happened without his notice only served to remind him of how imperfect he was.
He couldn't be everywhere or save everyone; it was something he thought he already knew, but believing you know something and having proof of it hitting you in the face felt very different, and he would be lying if he said he didn't feel a bit bad about it.
This was why he really wanted to stop this problem before it became too big.
Fury pondered all of this for a moment before speaking.
"I would like to have some samples so the scientists at Shield can do some analyses."
"Do you doubt us?" Tony couldn't help but ask with clear displeasure.
"You've always been more of a mechanic than a biologist, Tony. Besides, verification is necessary with something this serious." It wasn't that Fury didn't trust them, but as the director of the world's most important international defense agency, he had to use his own means to be sure.
"Well, if you want a sample, then you can have it," Daniel said suddenly, pointing to Jarol, causing both men to look at him in confusion.
"Did you plan to keep him in your living room until the end of time?" Daniel couldn't help but ask with amusement as he saw how Tony looked at him.
The man frowned. "Well, you know, I thought you'd take him to your secret base or something."
"I have a base... but it's not a prison." Daniel wasn't going to turn his farm into a prison, and although the fortress could be adapted, he would never take a prisoner and enemy near it in any way. That's how things tended to go wrong.
Of course, there was the Phantom Zone, but Daniel wasn't going to build an entrance to that place anytime soon. First of all, he didn't have the necessary resources at hand, and secondly, opening a door to what was essentially a dumping ground for criminals just to put more criminals in sounded like a very bad idea.
Although not completely, his memories about Superman had almost returned. There were still things missing, of course, but several gaps had been filled, and he knew that not infrequently, prisoners from the Phantom Zone tended to escape one way or another.
Therefore, he wanted to wait until at least his superhero team was mostly complete before opening a door to that place.
That way, even if something went wrong, he would have enough help to handle it.
Maybe it was a bit paranoid, but if suddenly three or more angry Kryptonians escaped, Daniel wasn't sure that he, Tony, and Carol could stop them without half the world going up in flames.
So yes, he was going to be cautious.
Fury looked at the monster over three meters tall and almost as wide as a car and couldn't help but smile ironically. While Shield had several prisons around the world, their facilities were... designed for less monstrous prisoners.
Still, it didn't mean they didn't have options.
"I might have a place."
That caught Tony and Daniel's attention.
"Wait, you really have a prison for monsters?"
To Stark's question, Fury shook his head.
"Not for monsters, for a monster. A very green and very angry one. Although it's not completely finished yet, it should be enough to hold this guy. Of course, I would like your help to improve it," he said, looking at the energy shields containing Jarol.
At the request, Tony almost refused, but before doing so, he began to think more deeply about it. He remembered Raza, the boy Arkin, the monster in front of him, and those strange ninja-like guys with fire powers.
If more monsters, people, or strange beings with abilities beyond the norm kept appearing and wreaking havoc around the world, they would need a place to put them.
Killing each and every one of them could be the easy solution, but it was also too ruthless and inhumane. Even if Tony had already crossed that line, it didn't mean he enjoyed doing it or wanted to become a complete murderer. No, that was not the legacy he sought to leave.
"I'll think of something," Tony simply said, with some ideas beginning to form in his mind.
Fury knew this was the best he could get for now, so he shrugged and accepted it.
Then he looked at Daniel. "Do you think..." he pointed at Jarol, and Daniel understood. Of course, they needed to transport the monster to the cell Fury mentioned, but letting Shield handle it alone was like inviting Jarol to escape one way or another.
"Jarvis, deactivate the shields," Tony said, and soon the monster was free once more. Of course, in the next instant, a fist struck its face, leaving it unconscious, and its body was encased in a block of ice.
.
.
.
Carrying a monster in an ice block in one arm and a person in the other wasn't as comfortable as he thought it would be.
On the other hand, seeing Nick Fury's irritated face while he held them was more entertaining. Daniel was pretty sure the man was completely regretting accepting his offer to bring him along.
Well, he never promised it would be a comfortable trip.
"We're almost there," Fury said, pointing to a distant place. Daniel squinted, noticing a slight distortion in the sky. In fact, an ordinary person wouldn't have noticed that something was wrong at first glance.
He rose through the clouds and soon went beyond the distortion. Then he saw it.
'Pretty cool,' he couldn't help but think. Although he had seen more advanced technology, it didn't change the fact that seeing a full-sized aircraft carrier flying through the clouds was awesome.
Soon he landed, and along with Fury, they entered the place, drawing a lot of attention.
"You certainly have an interesting place up here," he said, greeting some of the people who were staring at him.
"Not only superheroes can have cool stuff," Fury responded with a smile.
They passed through several areas until they reached their destination.
"You know, when you said you had a place, I imagined a lot more metal, maybe some chains and spikes, certainly not glass," Daniel remarked, though calling it entirely glass would be a lie since it still had metal-reinforced corners. Still, he couldn't help but look with interest at the cell with translucent glass walls.
"Don't underestimate this material. It's a special creation of reinforced glass beyond anything you can imagine. It was made to withstand great amounts of impact." Fury actually sounded somewhat proud, and he had the right to be. Creating this material had been very challenging for Shield and had cost many resources and time.
"Do you mind if I test it? Just to be sure, of course," Daniel said, placing the large ice cube with the prisoner on the ground. Although he didn't believe Fury was lying, he still remembered that the man had said this cell wasn't completely finished and he didn't want to leave something as dangerous as Jarol without ensuring it wouldn't escape, because if it did and ended up killing everyone in the place, that would definitely sit badly with him.
Therefore, he needed to make sure that, at a minimum, it was impossible for Jarol to break out of this cell.
Fury thought about his offer and nodded.
"Go ahead, do it," he said, stepping aside to give him space.
This was a great opportunity to see a direct demonstration of Defiant's capabilities while also testing how effective the reinforced glass was.
Of course, Shield had already tested it with high-caliber military weaponry, but that was still very different from testing it directly against the one who was meant to remain there. Although Hulk wasn't present, Defiant seemed to possess equally impressive strength, so from Fury's perspective, this could show just how effective this type of cell really was.
With permission granted, Daniel approached the cell and extended his hand with a closed fist, his knuckles a few centimeters from touching the glass. Then he mentally calculated the distance and, with a single finger, exerted the same amount of force he had used to pierce Jarol's body in their fight.
His index finger shot forward at lightning speed, hitting the glass with such force that the generated shockwave created gales that sent fierce gusts of air through the room.
Fury had to cover himself with both hands and couldn't help but step back a few paces, almost stumbling.
Then an extremely intense vibration spread throughout the place for a few seconds, causing alarms to start blaring all over the helicarrier.
Seeing this, Fury quickly took out his communicator and calmed the situation.
On his part, Daniel looked with astonishment at the crystal he had struck. Of course, he hadn't done it with all his strength; he had only used one finger after all. But even so... it was incredible that it was able to withstand an impact of such caliber. One had to understand that he had penetrated the armor of war tanks in Gulmira using much less force than he had just now.
For a moment, he was tempted to give it a real punch, but recalling the tremor that had shaken the place a moment ago, he knew that was a bad idea, so he dismissed it from his mind.
"Yes, this will do," he finally said, giving his approval.
On his part, Fury had a much less content expression than before. Although the crystal had withstood as expected, realizing that Daniel had only used one finger to shake the entire place made him understand that until now, Defiant had not really shown what he was truly capable of.
"You probably also want to add something to deal with the steam it expels. Certainly, he's been waiting to use it again, hasn't he, Jarol?" Daniel, of course, didn't believe that the ice in which the monster was encased could hold Jarol forever. He had already anticipated that it would try to use its ability to expel scalding steam to try to break free and escape.
The monster, which had awakened not long ago and had been biding its time, trembled and looked at Daniel with fear.
"Y-you!" Then the steam began to come out at high speed, but from Daniel's perspective, it was like watching a cloud move slowly.
He waited until the ice was almost completely melted before rushing in and grabbing the monster by the neck, causing it to let out a shriek. Then he hit it again until it was unconscious.
"At least it saved us the work of defrosting the ice," Fury couldn't help but say as he saw the pool of water starting to reach his feet.
Soon, Fury opened the cell and let Daniel put the unconscious monster in it. Then Fury began to activate all the security mechanisms that hadn't been active before, the main one being something that would make Jarol experience a fall of thousands of meters if he somehow managed to damage the cell.
"Well, I still have some matters to attend to, so I'm off. If any problems arise, don't hesitate to call me; you already have my number," Daniel said goodbye, deciding he would do a quick patrol before going to see Harleen.
After all, being a hero wasn't just about fighting bad guys.
.
.
.
"Eyes boring a way through me
Paralyze, controlling completely.."
The song blasted at full volume, echoing inside the sports car and pouring out through the open windows, flooding the road.
"Now there is a fire in me!"
The sound of the engine revving was drowned out by the rhythmic sound of the guitar. The exhaust let out a reverberation as the car began to travel at over 100 kilometers per hour.
"A fire that burns
This fire is out of control
I'm gonna burn this city, burn this city
This fire is out of control
I'm gonna burn this city, burn this city
This fire is out of control
We're gonna burn it, I'll burn it, I, I, I'll burn it down"
A quick gear shift made the acceleration increase even more, adrenaline flooding his veins and his heart pounding like a drum.
"Eyes burning the way through me
Overwhelm, destroying so sweetly
Now there is a fire within me
A fire that burns!"
The car jumped over a speed bump at full speed, leaving tire marks as it landed. The driver continued singing along to the music, not bothering to properly watch the road ahead, too engrossed in his own world.
"Oh, how I burn for you!-uueaah!?"
Of course, driving at such a high speed without paying proper attention could only result in an accident.
Jonathan Storm, better known to his friends as Johnny Storm, tried to regain control of the vehicle with little success.
"Shit!" he cursed in panic, realizing what was about to happen. His eyes widened to the extreme, and his heart almost seemed to stop for a moment.
The car flew through the air, nearly flipping over, everything seeming to go in slow motion for the boy inside who felt his pants dampen without being able to do anything to prevent it. In the back of his mind, a part of him prayed that it was his soda and not urine that had just stained his pants.
Johnny began to close his eyes, bracing for the imminent crash, but unexpectedly, it didn't come.
The car stopped suddenly in midair.
"What the hell?" Confused, the boy felt the car moving as it was slowly lowered until it touched the ground with its wheels. Without hesitation, he turned off the engine and stuck his head out the window with curiosity.
"Are you okay?" The voice made Johnny blink several times. A tall, well-built figure with a distinctive suit bearing a symbol on his chest, recognizable from frequent news appearances, greeted him.
"Defiant!" Johnny shouted excitedly as he instantly recognized the hero.
"That's my name, don't wear it out," he said with his characteristic smile. Johnny prepared to get out of the car, but before he could, a hand reached in, grabbing him by the collar of his shirt and yanking him out through the window.
The movement was so fast that he didn't even feel it until his feet touched the ground.
"What-! What are you doing?!" he said in panic, feeling the hero scrutinize him from head to toe. Once Daniel ensured he wasn't injured, he pulled a capture tape from his utility belt and began tying him up quickly in a practiced motion.
"You were going almost 180 kilometers per hour on a public road. I'm pretty sure the police will love to hear why. By the way, they should be arriving soon; a patrol started following you a few kilometers back," Daniel explained calmly as he let Johnny fall beside the car.
"Oh come on! Please, man, don't do this. My dad is going to kill me," he pleaded. Daniel shook his head in amusement, noting that the boy seemed to have forgotten he was about to crash and now appeared more worried about facing the consequences.
"Maybe that way you'll learn to drive," Daniel smiled brightly, giving him a thumbs-up, earning a mortified look from the boy.
"I thought you were cool!" Johnny complained, defeated.
"I'm a hero, kid. That's the definition of cool," he said and began to prepare to leave.
Seeing that he was about to go, Johnny quickly called out to him again.
"Hey, wait! At least give me a picture, man!"
Hearing this, Daniel couldn't help but give him an incredulous look.
"I tied you up so you couldn't escape from the police, and you still want a picture?"
Johnny grinned.
"Hey, you saved me, I can't complain about that, right? But more importantly, if I have a picture with you, I could definitely impress a lot of girls!" he said, winking with a subtle expression that made Daniel snort. Then an idea came to Daniel's mind, and with a mischievous smile, he searched for the boy's phone and took it.
"What's your password?"
"127689," Johnny said without hesitation.
Once unlocked, Daniel quickly opened the camera and stood next to Johnny.
"Wait! Wait! Don't let the tape show too much," he pleaded, but Daniel ignored him and took the photo. Then he began uploading it to all the social media open on the phone, with the caption "Caught!" in all caps at the same time sending it to all contacts.
"Hey! What are you doing?!"
"Hashtag arrested. Didn't you say you wanted to use a picture with me to impress some girls? With this, I'm sure you'll have a long line of beautiful girls waiting to bail you out." Johnny looked incredulously at the hero, unable to believe what he had done.
His left eye twitched, but soon a smile formed on his lips, and he began to laugh uncontrollably.
"You! Hahaha, alright, alright, good move, man. Just wait, I'll definitely get you back somehow!" How? Johnny had no fucking idea.
"Well, I'll be waiting for you," Daniel said with amusement and began to rise into the air, then disappeared into the distance.
Watching him leave, Johnny sighed, stopping his laughter.
"That was awesome..."
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Note:
Okay guys, I'm bringing you this chapter ahead of schedule because, as I said at the beginning, I'm celebrating! I hope you like it and I wish you a great day n.n
In case you're wondering how Daniel didn't break that crystal, well, Thor hit that crystal with his hammer while he was angry, and it only cracked, so you can imagine how tough it is.
Finally remember that You can already find the next chapter (and several more chapters) of this story on Patreon (patreon.com/EmmaCruzader) All the support received is appreciated ;D
35: Arrested
Fury looked at the screens projected in front of him with seriousness. As expected, the news had been quite hot lately. First, what happened in Gulmira, then the Defiant conference, followed by the destruction of the Stark Industries building, and the revelation that Tony Stark was Iron Man.
As if that wasn't enough, now there were images of a real monster circulating all over the world.
Yes, his job was beginning to get more stressful, and if he wasn't bald, he would have feared for his hair.
Suddenly, his personal communicator started to ring, and without hesitation, he answered.
"I have news," Natasha's voice came through, and Fury had to take a moment because there was something in her tone that he hadn't heard in a while.
"Agent Romanoff, tell me what happens"
After the monster in San Francisco was defeated and Daniel took it with him, S.H.I.E.L.D. realized that the direction the hero headed was towards Malibu. While they couldn't track him if he went any further, Fury believed that Defiant was going to meet Tony for some reason that he still didn't know but surely had to do with the prisoner he took.
Therefore, Natasha, who was already nearby, was sent to pay a visit to the billionaire at his mansion.
.
In Malibu, California, inside Tony Stark's house.
Natasha looked at the scene in front of her for a moment before responding.
"explaining it is a bit complicated. It's better if you come in person; they want to talk to you."
Fury on the other side of the line slightly frowned but nodded.
"I'll be there soon," he said, then hung up the call, and Natasha turned her attention back to Daniel and Tony, who were looking at the strangest and most grotesque being Natasha had the misfortune to see, which said a lot since she had seen very horrible things before.
"Listen, just tell us what we want, and everything will be easy," Tony said in a relaxed voice.
"Oh, you can refuse, and I'll make sure to turn your world into hell," Daniel threatened in a deep voice, deeper than his natural voice, making it clear he was making an effort.
Upon seeing them do such a thing, Natasha couldn't decide whether to laugh or feel amazed because it was actually working.
The monster, which was no longer frozen but imprisoned in what appeared to be an improvised cage made of energy shields, trembled, causing its onion-layered skin to shake unpleasantly.
It was strange and unsettling, a huge being over three meters tall shrinking like a scolded child. Natasha would certainly put it in her top ten strangest things she had seen in recent years.
"I-I don't know, I hated everything, I was very angry," the monster said through gritted teeth, its trembling turning into one of frustration, and its small dark eyes gained a clear glint of rage.
"Let's talk about those emotions. Why were you angry? What caused it?" Tony asked.
The monster squirmed, as if trying to remember.
Natasha didn't know exactly what Daniel or Tony were looking for with this, but seeing that the monster seemed unable to give an answer, she decided to intervene.
"Maybe being fired from the place where he worked for almost 20 years is the answer," she said. At her words, Daniel and Tony turned to look at her, making her shrug.
"What? S.H.I.E.L.D. finished cleaning the place and found some clues."
"Jarvis, why am I hearing about this now?" Tony asked, frowning.
"Sorry, sir. You seemed quite entertained, and I didn't want to interrupt your game."
That made both Daniel and Natasha almost snort.
"Well, I guess I can stop faking the voice," Daniel returned to his normal voice and looked at the monster, who now seemed more agitated upon hearing what Natasha had said.
"Tell me everything you learned about him," he said without turning to look at Natasha. She looked at him for a moment before nodding and beginning to speak.
"Jarol Holm, a Swedish immigrant who came to the United States with his family almost 30 years ago. There's not much to highlight in his story beyond his anger issues during his adolescence and violent tendencies that led him to be arrested several times. He calmed down for a while, took some cooking classes, and got a job at one of the oldest restaurants in San Francisco. Of course, over time, his hygiene... started to leave much to be desired. The constant complaints from customers led his boss to decide to fire him after many arguments. After that, well, I guess something happened to him."
The more Natasha spoke, the more it seemed Jarol remembered, shaking his head constantly until he heard the last part of her account.
"No!" he shouted, though it was more like a roar, steam pouring from his pores in waves, only being held back by the energy shields surrounding him.
"He couldn't fire me! He had no right!" he yelled, his fist slamming against the blue energy wall. Daniel and Tony looked at several screens projecting real-time data.
Before imprisoning Jarol, they had installed various sensors in his cell to monitor his condition, as well as in his body. The monster, of course, had been unable to resist.
"They're reacting to his anger," Tony said, astonished as he watched a screen showing cells inside Jarol agitating, changing, and altering in strange ways.
"Not just his anger, it's his emotions," Daniel said thoughtfully.
So, an emotional trigger... Where had he seen something like this before?
Monsters? An emotional trigger? An appearance and abilities related to what caused that surge of emotions?
Daniel suddenly stood still, absorbing this information, uncertain if what he thought it was could be correct or not.
He shook his head. No, this was a different world, unrelated to that place. It should be impossible for something like that to exist here.
But he knew he was just trying to deny it. He knew his own luck; of course, this had a high probability of being his fault. No, it wasn't his fault—or was it? It would be hard to know, and it didn't really matter. As long as he found a way to fix it, then it would be fine. He was Defiant, a superhero. Whether it was his fault or not, fixing this was his responsibility, and that wouldn't change.
He took a deep breath and sighed slowly.
"Well, this gives us a clue, though not a very useful one," How could emotions biologically affect living beings to the point of deforming their existence into something non-human? There was more to this than simple biological science—something mental. Thinking about it, he couldn't help but picture a blonde woman in his mind.
Yes, maybe he needed to talk to her again to investigate and clarify some things regarding this. Although, considering he had left without warning and hadn't sent any message in the past few days, she was probably very upset.
Well, in his defense, a lot of things had been happening, and she knew he was a busy man.
"if it's not too much to ask, I would like an explanation about this," Fury's voice arrived, though this time his arrival was no surprise to Daniel, who had been attentive to the sounds in case the literal monster in the room tried to escape.
Tony, who had been studying some of the collected data, waved his hand without looking at Fury and responded casually.
"I hope you went to the bathroom before coming because this might take a while."
Daniel began to think that he might try the teaching profession if he ever had time for it, though teaching didn't become his favorite thing instantly, it was certainly entertaining.
Of course, it helped that the students were intelligent, not counting Tony, and although Natasha and Fury weren't extraordinary geniuses, underestimating their intelligence would be a grave mistake.
It didn't take them long to summarize what was happening; they showed some of the findings and theories that Daniel had, and that Tony could corroborate even if he still wasn't an expert in genetics.
"So, something that may or may not be hidden in many or few people around the world makes people turn into these things for no reason?" After listening to the whole explanation, Fury spoke, pointing towards Jarol's cell; the monster had been isolated but was still in view for monitoring.
"Well, there might be a reason, though it's still a hypothesis, but we have enough evidence to show that this could be the right answer." Daniel then mentioned Jarol's situation and the emotional trigger, apart from extracting the information from Greg and Raza.
"The example of the former leader of the Ten Rings in Afghanistan is something Tony can explain better." At that, Tony nodded and began to detail his encounter with the man.
"I didn't think too much about it at the time, but now I feel that the emotional trigger theory makes a lot of sense. I didn't kill him immediately, I... wanted to see him suffer, to feel the same as I did," he touched his chest where the arc reactor was glowing.
"A slow and agonizing death," he was quite angry at that moment.
"Now I know that doing that was stupid and it came back to bite me immediately." Then he signaled, and Jarvis played some of the images of his encounter with Raza, images that had been taken by his armor.
He didn't show the entire encounter, just the important parts, like Raza's sudden transformation and the demonstration of his powers, and some parts of the fight.
Once he finished his explanation, Daniel stepped forward.
"I don't know exactly when or what happened to him, but thanks to the testimonies of several students, we can be clear that the boy Arkin had been getting into trouble before, well, the incident at his school. Emotional problems are more common in teenagers, but unlike Jarol or Raza, we don't have direct proof that this was his case, so we can only assume that it was and that something happened to cause him to change." This was why, even with three examples, they couldn't say for sure that an emotional trigger was really the key point.
Daniel frowned as he thought about this matter. In part, he felt responsible because Smallville was his home and base, and that something like this had happened without his notice only served to remind him of how imperfect he was.
He couldn't be everywhere or save everyone; it was something he thought he already knew, but believing you know something and having proof of it hitting you in the face felt very different, and he would be lying if he said he didn't feel a bit bad about it.
This was why he really wanted to stop this problem before it became too big.
Fury pondered all of this for a moment before speaking.
"I would like to have some samples so the scientists at Shield can do some analyses."
"Do you doubt us?" Tony couldn't help but ask with clear displeasure.
"You've always been more of a mechanic than a biologist, Tony. Besides, verification is necessary with something this serious." It wasn't that Fury didn't trust them, but as the director of the world's most important international defense agency, he had to use his own means to be sure.
"Well, if you want a sample, then you can have it," Daniel said suddenly, pointing to Jarol, causing both men to look at him in confusion.
"Did you plan to keep him in your living room until the end of time?" Daniel couldn't help but ask with amusement as he saw how Tony looked at him.
The man frowned. "Well, you know, I thought you'd take him to your secret base or something."
"I have a base... but it's not a prison." Daniel wasn't going to turn his farm into a prison, and although the fortress could be adapted, he would never take a prisoner and enemy near it in any way. That's how things tended to go wrong.
Of course, there was the Phantom Zone, but Daniel wasn't going to build an entrance to that place anytime soon. First of all, he didn't have the necessary resources at hand, and secondly, opening a door to what was essentially a dumping ground for criminals just to put more criminals in sounded like a very bad idea.
Although not completely, his memories about Superman had almost returned. There were still things missing, of course, but several gaps had been filled, and he knew that not infrequently, prisoners from the Phantom Zone tended to escape one way or another.
Therefore, he wanted to wait until at least his superhero team was mostly complete before opening a door to that place.
That way, even if something went wrong, he would have enough help to handle it.
Maybe it was a bit paranoid, but if suddenly three or more angry Kryptonians escaped, Daniel wasn't sure that he, Tony, and Carol could stop them without half the world going up in flames.
So yes, he was going to be cautious.
Fury looked at the monster over three meters tall and almost as wide as a car and couldn't help but smile ironically. While Shield had several prisons around the world, their facilities were... designed for less monstrous prisoners.
Still, it didn't mean they didn't have options.
"I might have a place."
That caught Tony and Daniel's attention.
"Wait, you really have a prison for monsters?"
To Stark's question, Fury shook his head.
"Not for monsters, for a monster. A very green and very angry one. Although it's not completely finished yet, it should be enough to hold this guy. Of course, I would like your help to improve it," he said, looking at the energy shields containing Jarol.
At the request, Tony almost refused, but before doing so, he began to think more deeply about it. He remembered Raza, the boy Arkin, the monster in front of him, and those strange ninja-like guys with fire powers.
If more monsters, people, or strange beings with abilities beyond the norm kept appearing and wreaking havoc around the world, they would need a place to put them.
Killing each and every one of them could be the easy solution, but it was also too ruthless and inhumane. Even if Tony had already crossed that line, it didn't mean he enjoyed doing it or wanted to become a complete murderer. No, that was not the legacy he sought to leave.
"I'll think of something," Tony simply said, with some ideas beginning to form in his mind.
Fury knew this was the best he could get for now, so he shrugged and accepted it.
Then he looked at Daniel. "Do you think..." he pointed at Jarol, and Daniel understood. Of course, they needed to transport the monster to the cell Fury mentioned, but letting Shield handle it alone was like inviting Jarol to escape one way or another.
"Jarvis, deactivate the shields," Tony said, and soon the monster was free once more. Of course, in the next instant, a fist struck its face, leaving it unconscious, and its body was encased in a block of ice.
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Carrying a monster in an ice block in one arm and a person in the other wasn't as comfortable as he thought it would be.
On the other hand, seeing Nick Fury's irritated face while he held them was more entertaining. Daniel was pretty sure the man was completely regretting accepting his offer to bring him along.
Well, he never promised it would be a comfortable trip.
"We're almost there," Fury said, pointing to a distant place. Daniel squinted, noticing a slight distortion in the sky. In fact, an ordinary person wouldn't have noticed that something was wrong at first glance.
He rose through the clouds and soon went beyond the distortion. Then he saw it.
'Pretty cool,' he couldn't help but think. Although he had seen more advanced technology, it didn't change the fact that seeing a full-sized aircraft carrier flying through the clouds was awesome.
Soon he landed, and along with Fury, they entered the place, drawing a lot of attention.
"You certainly have an interesting place up here," he said, greeting some of the people who were staring at him.
"Not only superheroes can have cool stuff," Fury responded with a smile.
They passed through several areas until they reached their destination.
"You know, when you said you had a place, I imagined a lot more metal, maybe some chains and spikes, certainly not glass," Daniel remarked, though calling it entirely glass would be a lie since it still had metal-reinforced corners. Still, he couldn't help but look with interest at the cell with translucent glass walls.
"Don't underestimate this material. It's a special creation of reinforced glass beyond anything you can imagine. It was made to withstand great amounts of impact." Fury actually sounded somewhat proud, and he had the right to be. Creating this material had been very challenging for Shield and had cost many resources and time.
"Do you mind if I test it? Just to be sure, of course," Daniel said, placing the large ice cube with the prisoner on the ground. Although he didn't believe Fury was lying, he still remembered that the man had said this cell wasn't completely finished and he didn't want to leave something as dangerous as Jarol without ensuring it wouldn't escape, because if it did and ended up killing everyone in the place, that would definitely sit badly with him.
Therefore, he needed to make sure that, at a minimum, it was impossible for Jarol to break out of this cell.
Fury thought about his offer and nodded.
"Go ahead, do it," he said, stepping aside to give him space.
This was a great opportunity to see a direct demonstration of Defiant's capabilities while also testing how effective the reinforced glass was.
Of course, Shield had already tested it with high-caliber military weaponry, but that was still very different from testing it directly against the one who was meant to remain there. Although Hulk wasn't present, Defiant seemed to possess equally impressive strength, so from Fury's perspective, this could show just how effective this type of cell really was.
With permission granted, Daniel approached the cell and extended his hand with a closed fist, his knuckles a few centimeters from touching the glass. Then he mentally calculated the distance and, with a single finger, exerted the same amount of force he had used to pierce Jarol's body in their fight.
His index finger shot forward at lightning speed, hitting the glass with such force that the generated shockwave created gales that sent fierce gusts of air through the room.
Fury had to cover himself with both hands and couldn't help but step back a few paces, almost stumbling.
Then an extremely intense vibration spread throughout the place for a few seconds, causing alarms to start blaring all over the helicarrier.
Seeing this, Fury quickly took out his communicator and calmed the situation.
On his part, Daniel looked with astonishment at the crystal he had struck. Of course, he hadn't done it with all his strength; he had only used one finger after all. But even so... it was incredible that it was able to withstand an impact of such caliber. One had to understand that he had penetrated the armor of war tanks in Gulmira using much less force than he had just now.
For a moment, he was tempted to give it a real punch, but recalling the tremor that had shaken the place a moment ago, he knew that was a bad idea, so he dismissed it from his mind.
"Yes, this will do," he finally said, giving his approval.
On his part, Fury had a much less content expression than before. Although the crystal had withstood as expected, realizing that Daniel had only used one finger to shake the entire place made him understand that until now, Defiant had not really shown what he was truly capable of.
"You probably also want to add something to deal with the steam it expels. Certainly, he's been waiting to use it again, hasn't he, Jarol?" Daniel, of course, didn't believe that the ice in which the monster was encased could hold Jarol forever. He had already anticipated that it would try to use its ability to expel scalding steam to try to break free and escape.
The monster, which had awakened not long ago and had been biding its time, trembled and looked at Daniel with fear.
"Y-you!" Then the steam began to come out at high speed, but from Daniel's perspective, it was like watching a cloud move slowly.
He waited until the ice was almost completely melted before rushing in and grabbing the monster by the neck, causing it to let out a shriek. Then he hit it again until it was unconscious.
"At least it saved us the work of defrosting the ice," Fury couldn't help but say as he saw the pool of water starting to reach his feet.
Soon, Fury opened the cell and let Daniel put the unconscious monster in it. Then Fury began to activate all the security mechanisms that hadn't been active before, the main one being something that would make Jarol experience a fall of thousands of meters if he somehow managed to damage the cell.
"Well, I still have some matters to attend to, so I'm off. If any problems arise, don't hesitate to call me; you already have my number," Daniel said goodbye, deciding he would do a quick patrol before going to see Harleen.
After all, being a hero wasn't just about fighting bad guys.
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"Eyes boring a way through me
Paralyze, controlling completely.."
The song blasted at full volume, echoing inside the sports car and pouring out through the open windows, flooding the road.
"Now there is a fire in me!"
The sound of the engine revving was drowned out by the rhythmic sound of the guitar. The exhaust let out a reverberation as the car began to travel at over 100 kilometers per hour.
"A fire that burns
This fire is out of control
I'm gonna burn this city, burn this city
This fire is out of control
I'm gonna burn this city, burn this city
This fire is out of control
We're gonna burn it, I'll burn it, I, I, I'll burn it down"
A quick gear shift made the acceleration increase even more, adrenaline flooding his veins and his heart pounding like a drum.
"Eyes burning the way through me
Overwhelm, destroying so sweetly
Now there is a fire within me
A fire that burns!"
The car jumped over a speed bump at full speed, leaving tire marks as it landed. The driver continued singing along to the music, not bothering to properly watch the road ahead, too engrossed in his own world.
"Oh, how I burn for you!-uueaah!?"
Of course, driving at such a high speed without paying proper attention could only result in an accident.
Jonathan Storm, better known to his friends as Johnny Storm, tried to regain control of the vehicle with little success.
"Shit!" he cursed in panic, realizing what was about to happen. His eyes widened to the extreme, and his heart almost seemed to stop for a moment.
The car flew through the air, nearly flipping over, everything seeming to go in slow motion for the boy inside who felt his pants dampen without being able to do anything to prevent it. In the back of his mind, a part of him prayed that it was his soda and not urine that had just stained his pants.
Johnny began to close his eyes, bracing for the imminent crash, but unexpectedly, it didn't come.
The car stopped suddenly in midair.
"What the hell?" Confused, the boy felt the car moving as it was slowly lowered until it touched the ground with its wheels. Without hesitation, he turned off the engine and stuck his head out the window with curiosity.
"Are you okay?" The voice made Johnny blink several times. A tall, well-built figure with a distinctive suit bearing a symbol on his chest, recognizable from frequent news appearances, greeted him.
"Defiant!" Johnny shouted excitedly as he instantly recognized the hero.
"That's my name, don't wear it out," he said with his characteristic smile. Johnny prepared to get out of the car, but before he could, a hand reached in, grabbing him by the collar of his shirt and yanking him out through the window.
The movement was so fast that he didn't even feel it until his feet touched the ground.
"What-! What are you doing?!" he said in panic, feeling the hero scrutinize him from head to toe. Once Daniel ensured he wasn't injured, he pulled a capture tape from his utility belt and began tying him up quickly in a practiced motion.
"You were going almost 180 kilometers per hour on a public road. I'm pretty sure the police will love to hear why. By the way, they should be arriving soon; a patrol started following you a few kilometers back," Daniel explained calmly as he let Johnny fall beside the car.
"Oh come on! Please, man, don't do this. My dad is going to kill me," he pleaded. Daniel shook his head in amusement, noting that the boy seemed to have forgotten he was about to crash and now appeared more worried about facing the consequences.
"Maybe that way you'll learn to drive," Daniel smiled brightly, giving him a thumbs-up, earning a mortified look from the boy.
"I thought you were cool!" Johnny complained, defeated.
"I'm a hero, kid. That's the definition of cool," he said and began to prepare to leave.
Seeing that he was about to go, Johnny quickly called out to him again.
"Hey, wait! At least give me a picture, man!"
Hearing this, Daniel couldn't help but give him an incredulous look.
"I tied you up so you couldn't escape from the police, and you still want a picture?"
Johnny grinned.
"Hey, you saved me, I can't complain about that, right? But more importantly, if I have a picture with you, I could definitely impress a lot of girls!" he said, winking with a subtle expression that made Daniel snort. Then an idea came to Daniel's mind, and with a mischievous smile, he searched for the boy's phone and took it.
"What's your password?"
"127689," Johnny said without hesitation.
Once unlocked, Daniel quickly opened the camera and stood next to Johnny.
"Wait! Wait! Don't let the tape show too much," he pleaded, but Daniel ignored him and took the photo. Then he began uploading it to all the social media open on the phone, with the caption "Caught!" in all caps at the same time sending it to all contacts.
"Hey! What are you doing?!"
"Hashtag arrested. Didn't you say you wanted to use a picture with me to impress some girls? With this, I'm sure you'll have a long line of beautiful girls waiting to bail you out." Johnny looked incredulously at the hero, unable to believe what he had done.
His left eye twitched, but soon a smile formed on his lips, and he began to laugh uncontrollably.
"You! Hahaha, alright, alright, good move, man. Just wait, I'll definitely get you back somehow!" How? Johnny had no fucking idea.
"Well, I'll be waiting for you," Daniel said with amusement and began to rise into the air, then disappeared into the distance.
Watching him leave, Johnny sighed, stopping his laughter.
"That was awesome..."
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Note:
Okay guys, I'm bringing you this chapter ahead of schedule because, as I said at the beginning, I'm celebrating! I hope you like it and I wish you a great day n.n
In case you're wondering how Daniel didn't break that crystal, well, Thor hit that crystal with his hammer while he was angry, and it only cracked, so you can imagine how tough it is.
Finally remember that You can already find the next chapter (and several more chapters) of this story on Patreon (patreon.com/EmmaCruzader) All the support received is appreciated ;D
KillerFish
Grumpy Owl, Bird Lawyer
Yes, that is precisely how you deal with Johnny Storm, even if you're unaware you're dealing with Johnny Storm.
36: Quinn
New
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36: Quinn
"It was so beautiful, like holding the entire world in your arms. His adorable blue eyes looked at me with such affection that I almost thought I'd get diabetes from love. Can you imagine that, Doctor? Holding the greatest gift life can give you and never wanting to let it go?" The voice was filled with so much love and tenderness that the hand holding the pen paused for a moment before continuing to write.
"That's a love only a mother could have. I'm still a bit young for that," Harleen replied, watching her patient rock her hands as if cradling something that wasn't there—a ghost from the past.
"Yes… a mother, that's what I was. Just a mother who wanted to see her child grow up healthy and strong, live his life, see him start his own family. But life has always been a cruel joker. Just as it gives you great gifts, it takes them away in the most unjust ways."
There was a sense of helplessness followed by a snort. Her lips trembled, smiling as she recalled the past. Then her eyes met Harleen's.
"You know, Quinn, your eyes remind me of his." At her words, Harleen raised an eyebrow, swallowing with some doubt as she decided whether it was the right moment to take a step further in these sessions. It had been several days since she started treating her most special patient, several days of testing the waters, advancing slowly, probing and waiting for a reaction.
After all that back and forth, this was the first time she had managed to see the woman's more "vulnerable" side.
But the decision was made before she could do so, as the woman with green hair laughed—a chilling yet somehow sad laugh.
"Yes, those blue eyes that suddenly lost their light, like candles being snuffed out in the wind. At that moment, I almost felt like something broke inside me, but no, it wasn't like that, Quinn. The reality is that I learned something else, an important lesson. Everything you love, everything that matters to you, will one day be taken away from you. And then… what's left?" She leaned in, locking eyes with Harleen.
Harleen didn't know what to say, but she didn't need to, as her patient spoke first.
"Nothing! Except the joke. That cruel joke the world plays on you, over and over again." Her voice echoed through the room. Harleen looked at her and couldn't help but ask her next question.
"And… is that what turned you into… this?" She gestured, more precisely toward her unnaturally pale skin and the inhumanly long smile that adorned her face.
The woman looked at her differently; there was something different in her eyes, something Harleen hadn't seen before. For a moment, she thought the woman had stopped smiling, but it was only for a moment.
"Oh, Quinn, don't you understand, dear? I simply decided to laugh at the joke instead of crying. And you… well, you can laugh with me if you want," she said, smiling more softly, not with a manic or sarcastic smile, but just a kind smile.
"Laugh with you?" Harleen frowned slightly, her lips pressed into a thin line, something that didn't go unnoticed by her patient, who, for the first time since their sessions began, actually stopped smiling.
"Yes, dear. After all, life is nothing more than a poorly told joke, and we… well, we're just the poor devils who are forced to listen to it. So why not laugh until we're out of breath?"
At another time, perhaps in another world, Harleen might have found the entire conversation interesting, even fascinating. But in a world where she hadn't grown up with the true horrors of Gotham weighing on her shoulders, her thoughts were less cynical.
She didn't see things the same way as the woman in front of her. In fact, she believed that this world, as cruel and unjust as it might be, was also beautiful, and there was hope in it.
After all, there was a hero trying to make it a better place.
With that thought, Harleen smiled and jotted something else down in her notebook.
"Laugh until we're out of breath, huh?" she finally said, looking up from her notebook to meet her patient's eyes. "And what happens after the laughter stops? What's left then?"
There was silence. The green-haired woman admired her smile with curiosity. She could see it— that smile wasn't for her, and it wasn't because of her, which intrigued her greatly.
"Darling, when the laughter stops, there's only silence left—a boring and uninteresting silence, one that devours you from the inside, consuming you until there's nothing left… unless you find something else to laugh about! That's why the joke must never end."
The smile returned, and Harleen almost scoffed. What a twisted thought, what a distorted view of the world. Now she understood why this woman was here. She wondered if she could help her, heal something that so many others before her had failed to heal.
But… looking into those deranged eyes, she wondered if there was really anything left to heal.
"Or maybe, after the laughter, there remains the opportunity to change something. To make the joke have a different ending," she finally said in response, and her patient let out a loud laugh.
"What is this? I didn't think you were so optimistic, dear, so naive. Do you really believe there's something more in this world? That things can change? That's not how this game works, and it's better if you understand that before you lose," she said, her voice descending to a tone less kind than before.
"What if this isn't a game?" Harleen quickly replied, irritated for some reason.
"And what if, instead of laughing at the world, we try to fix it? It might be difficult, it might even be impossible, but there are people willing to try, to fight for it—" she stopped herself. She had gotten carried away, had done something she shouldn't have; she was there to listen, not to lecture.
Silence returned, and Harleen cleared her throat, deciding that maybe she needed to take a break.
"Not just optimistic and naive, but also idealistic? I thought you were smarter than that, Quinn. It's disappointing..." Despite saying that, for some reason, Harleen could feel that the woman was still looking at her the same way as before, the same way she had looked at her the first time they met. It was a look that was hard to identify.
"Being a bit optimistic, somewhat naive if you want to call it that, and even a little idealistic, are part of the job, Mrs. J. After all, I'm here to make things better, to help, to make sure the joke isn't the only reality in this world, and to ensure that people don't have to laugh just to avoid crying," she said, following the same kind of analogy the woman used in an attempt to make her understand.
But all she got in return was a scoff, one filled with amusement and mockery.
"Oh, Quinn! You're a delight. Do you really think I'm one of those cases you can fix? Do you think you can pull me out of this spiral of madness I live in?" Her words were dripping with sarcasm.
"No," Harleen said, causing the laughter to stop.
"I'm not here to fix you, Mrs. J. I'm here to understand you." Harleen had spent many nights in an internal debate before coming to a conclusion that she believed was the right one.
She and Daniel had discussed their different points of view many times when they could chat with each other, though it didn't happen often. There was one conversation she remembered deeply.
It was about doing what's right and doing what's necessary.
Something that reminded her of the speech he had given at the conference a few days ago and the reason why she understood why he did what he did in Afghanistan.
This wasn't a fair world.
But that was okay. That's why people like her, like Daniel, existed—to make this unjust world a little more just. That was the difference between Defiant and the woman in front of her. Both believed this world was dark and cruel, but one fought to change it, to make it better, while the other let herself be dragged into that darkness without hesitation, content to leave things as they were and simply laugh at it.
That's why she was here—not to save the woman in front of her. No, she could see now that there was no salvation for her. She was part of a world that would be changed slowly but surely, a mere remnant of a past era, now rotting away in a cell.
She was truly here to study her, to understand what had made her become what she was, and hopefully to prevent it from happening to someone else. That was the change she was referring to. After all, as Daniel had told her:
You can't save them all, so just save as many as you can.
Maybe she couldn't help Defiant by punching bad guys or flying through the skies, but that didn't mean she couldn't be useful in other ways, more specialized ways, just as she had been with the victims of Killgrave.
"You're a curious case, Quinn. Very curious. Just when I thought I could see through you, you show me I was wrong. That almost never happens—it's quite amusing. I wonder, what's underneath all that?" The woman looked at her thoughtfully, as if trying to see through her soul.
It made her uncomfortable.
'What will I see once I break that mask?'
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Harleen entered her office, feeling the weight of fatigue on her shoulders. It had been a while since she'd had such a difficult session. Now, she just wanted to relax a little. Without meaning to, she touched the hidden pocket in her lab coat, but quickly shook her head, clenching her fist and biting her lip.
The temptation was strong, but she had managed to stay firm despite everything. She hoped the hard part would soon pass and, little by little, it would get easier.
"You look stressed," the voice made her stop in her tracks, and she turned her head so quickly that she could have twisted her neck if she weren't as agile and flexible as she was.
Daniel greeted her with a somewhat shy smile. She smiled when she saw him, but in the next instant, her smile faded into a frown and a pout.
"You don't call, you don't write, you disappear, and then you reveal your face to the whole world. You'd better have a great excuse," she said, locking the door to her office and crossing her arms, giving him a stern look.
Daniel scratched his cheek with his finger. Well, there was a lot to explain.
"Well, why don't we talk about it over dinner?" he said, lifting the bag of takeout he had picked up on his way to Rikers.
Harleen looked at the food and remembered she hadn't had dinner yet.
"Alright."
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"Do you ever think!? You could have died, Johnny!" Franklin Storm felt a sharp pain in his head as he looked at his son. When he got the call from the police, he had been terrified and worried—feelings that quickly shifted once he confirmed his son was safe and sound.
Now, he was just angry and disappointed.
"I know! Alright? You don't have to yell at me. I was there... I almost pissed myself when it happened..." Johnny Storm sighed and scratched his head, not daring to meet his father's eyes.
"No! You don't know. If you did, you wouldn't keep doing this!" Franklin grabbed his son's arm and pulled him out of the station, dragging him to the car. For a moment, he considered putting him back in the cell he had just taken him out of, but he couldn't do it, no matter how angry he was.
Seeing his father's car but not his own, Johnny frowned deeply.
"Hey, where's my car?" he asked.
"In the junkyard," the response came quickly, making Johnny blink in disbelief. He watched his father get into the car, still stunned, before quickly reacting, opening the door, and getting in as well.
"The junkyard! Are you crazy, old man?!" he protested with clear indignation.
"No, I've never been more sane. It's over, Johnny, do you hear me? It's over! No more racing, no more cars, and no more parties. Until you straighten up, you're coming with me to the institute, and that's final!" His words were severe and firm. Seeing his father's eyes, Johnny realized that this time he was dead serious.
"Oh, come on! You know I hate that place. Everyone there is super boring and dull. I could fall asleep in half a second just being in there!"
"It's that or nothing, Johnny..." Franklin Storm sighed and looked at his son with a weary expression, the lines on his face deepening, making him look a little older than he really was.
"You have so much potential, son. You could do incredible things if you just tried... please." Johnny felt bad, unable to ignore the exhaustion in his father's voice. A strange bitterness rose in his throat.
"Alright, I'll go to your institute..." he finally sighed, causing a small smile to form at the corner of Franklin's mouth.
As he watched the scenery blur past, Johnny thought of something else. If he was going to the institute, he should be able to figure out a way to get back at that guy. A mischievous smile formed on his lips.
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"Woa… it's amazing," Harleen said, reaching out to touch Daniel's face with fascination.
"It's not foolproof, but it'll help keep my identity hidden for a little while longer."
Harleen nodded and pulled her hand back, letting Daniel turn off the mask and return his face to normal. To think that he had gone through so much in such a short time… it must have been tough.
"Have you been sleeping well?" she asked with concern, and Daniel looked at her, nodding.
"I've been following your advice, Dr. Quinzel—at least six hours a day."
That was good; she had worried that without her constant reminders, he might forget.
"Well, we've talked a lot about me. What about you? How's work been?" At his question, Harleen fell silent for a moment.
Should she tell him about the artificial pheromones?
No… she couldn't let him worry unnecessarily about a problem she had created herself. She was supposed to help him, not give him more work. She could solve this on her own without being a burden.
"Well, things are going well. I've been dealing with some interesting patients, but nothing really worth mentioning."
Daniel nodded, listening but not pressing her with too many questions. After all, she was still a professional, and patient-doctor confidentiality was something she had to maintain.
Of course, knowing who Daniel was, she knew that if she told him certain things, she wouldn't have to worry about him revealing them. So, if he asked, she could tell him, which was, of course, a complete breach of her code. But then again, she had already done questionable things for him, like letting him use the Star Labs facilities illegally, so something like telling him why a patient wet the bed until they were 27 didn't seem like a big deal in comparison.
"I'm glad your work is going well," Daniel finally said when Harleen finished sharing some of the things she'd been up to.
Noticing how he suddenly fell silent, she raised an eyebrow.
"What is it?" At her question, Daniel looked a bit embarrassed.
"Uh, well, I might need your help with something again." At those words, Harleen suddenly straightened up, her expression lighting up with a smile and bright eyes.
She wouldn't admit it out loud, but a very loud part of herself had been worried, doubting. What if Daniel didn't come back? What if, now that the whole Killgrave victims situation was almost completely resolved, he no longer needed her? If she was left behind again....
Those thoughts had been tormenting her for several nights, making it difficult to fall asleep, and it didn't help that she was also suffering from the effects of the abstinence she had inflicted upon herself.
Even so, she convinced herself, telling herself that he would come back, that she could still do a lot to help him, and it seemed she hadn't been lying to herself—he came back, he wanted her help, he needed her.
With her heart racing and a huge smile on her face, she reached out to squeeze his hand.
"Tell me everything." Feeling her grip, Daniel smiled and nodded. Explaining it was easy since Harleen already knew about Gen-M; he just had to update her on the new discoveries he had made.
She listened attentively, asking questions when necessary and expertly answering the questions Daniel had, bringing forth all the knowledge she had acquired over her years of study.
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Note:
Writing this chapter was difficult. The Joker... is a complicated character. Martha as the Joker? Twice as complicated. I had to make several drafts before I was even moderately convinced. I still feel that I need to improve on the character's portrayal, but I believe I'll get there when the time is right.
Let me know what you think. You know I read all the comments, critiques, and suggestions. If you notice any errors, point them out, and I'll correct them immediately. Good night/afternoon/morning, and see you in the next chapter.
Finally remember that You can already find the next chapter (and several more chapters) of this story on Patreon (patreon.com/EmmaCruzader ) All the support received is appreciated ;D
"It was so beautiful, like holding the entire world in your arms. His adorable blue eyes looked at me with such affection that I almost thought I'd get diabetes from love. Can you imagine that, Doctor? Holding the greatest gift life can give you and never wanting to let it go?" The voice was filled with so much love and tenderness that the hand holding the pen paused for a moment before continuing to write.
"That's a love only a mother could have. I'm still a bit young for that," Harleen replied, watching her patient rock her hands as if cradling something that wasn't there—a ghost from the past.
"Yes… a mother, that's what I was. Just a mother who wanted to see her child grow up healthy and strong, live his life, see him start his own family. But life has always been a cruel joker. Just as it gives you great gifts, it takes them away in the most unjust ways."
There was a sense of helplessness followed by a snort. Her lips trembled, smiling as she recalled the past. Then her eyes met Harleen's.
"You know, Quinn, your eyes remind me of his." At her words, Harleen raised an eyebrow, swallowing with some doubt as she decided whether it was the right moment to take a step further in these sessions. It had been several days since she started treating her most special patient, several days of testing the waters, advancing slowly, probing and waiting for a reaction.
After all that back and forth, this was the first time she had managed to see the woman's more "vulnerable" side.
But the decision was made before she could do so, as the woman with green hair laughed—a chilling yet somehow sad laugh.
"Yes, those blue eyes that suddenly lost their light, like candles being snuffed out in the wind. At that moment, I almost felt like something broke inside me, but no, it wasn't like that, Quinn. The reality is that I learned something else, an important lesson. Everything you love, everything that matters to you, will one day be taken away from you. And then… what's left?" She leaned in, locking eyes with Harleen.
Harleen didn't know what to say, but she didn't need to, as her patient spoke first.
"Nothing! Except the joke. That cruel joke the world plays on you, over and over again." Her voice echoed through the room. Harleen looked at her and couldn't help but ask her next question.
"And… is that what turned you into… this?" She gestured, more precisely toward her unnaturally pale skin and the inhumanly long smile that adorned her face.
The woman looked at her differently; there was something different in her eyes, something Harleen hadn't seen before. For a moment, she thought the woman had stopped smiling, but it was only for a moment.
"Oh, Quinn, don't you understand, dear? I simply decided to laugh at the joke instead of crying. And you… well, you can laugh with me if you want," she said, smiling more softly, not with a manic or sarcastic smile, but just a kind smile.
"Laugh with you?" Harleen frowned slightly, her lips pressed into a thin line, something that didn't go unnoticed by her patient, who, for the first time since their sessions began, actually stopped smiling.
"Yes, dear. After all, life is nothing more than a poorly told joke, and we… well, we're just the poor devils who are forced to listen to it. So why not laugh until we're out of breath?"
At another time, perhaps in another world, Harleen might have found the entire conversation interesting, even fascinating. But in a world where she hadn't grown up with the true horrors of Gotham weighing on her shoulders, her thoughts were less cynical.
She didn't see things the same way as the woman in front of her. In fact, she believed that this world, as cruel and unjust as it might be, was also beautiful, and there was hope in it.
After all, there was a hero trying to make it a better place.
With that thought, Harleen smiled and jotted something else down in her notebook.
"Laugh until we're out of breath, huh?" she finally said, looking up from her notebook to meet her patient's eyes. "And what happens after the laughter stops? What's left then?"
There was silence. The green-haired woman admired her smile with curiosity. She could see it— that smile wasn't for her, and it wasn't because of her, which intrigued her greatly.
"Darling, when the laughter stops, there's only silence left—a boring and uninteresting silence, one that devours you from the inside, consuming you until there's nothing left… unless you find something else to laugh about! That's why the joke must never end."
The smile returned, and Harleen almost scoffed. What a twisted thought, what a distorted view of the world. Now she understood why this woman was here. She wondered if she could help her, heal something that so many others before her had failed to heal.
But… looking into those deranged eyes, she wondered if there was really anything left to heal.
"Or maybe, after the laughter, there remains the opportunity to change something. To make the joke have a different ending," she finally said in response, and her patient let out a loud laugh.
"What is this? I didn't think you were so optimistic, dear, so naive. Do you really believe there's something more in this world? That things can change? That's not how this game works, and it's better if you understand that before you lose," she said, her voice descending to a tone less kind than before.
"What if this isn't a game?" Harleen quickly replied, irritated for some reason.
"And what if, instead of laughing at the world, we try to fix it? It might be difficult, it might even be impossible, but there are people willing to try, to fight for it—" she stopped herself. She had gotten carried away, had done something she shouldn't have; she was there to listen, not to lecture.
Silence returned, and Harleen cleared her throat, deciding that maybe she needed to take a break.
"Not just optimistic and naive, but also idealistic? I thought you were smarter than that, Quinn. It's disappointing..." Despite saying that, for some reason, Harleen could feel that the woman was still looking at her the same way as before, the same way she had looked at her the first time they met. It was a look that was hard to identify.
"Being a bit optimistic, somewhat naive if you want to call it that, and even a little idealistic, are part of the job, Mrs. J. After all, I'm here to make things better, to help, to make sure the joke isn't the only reality in this world, and to ensure that people don't have to laugh just to avoid crying," she said, following the same kind of analogy the woman used in an attempt to make her understand.
But all she got in return was a scoff, one filled with amusement and mockery.
"Oh, Quinn! You're a delight. Do you really think I'm one of those cases you can fix? Do you think you can pull me out of this spiral of madness I live in?" Her words were dripping with sarcasm.
"No," Harleen said, causing the laughter to stop.
"I'm not here to fix you, Mrs. J. I'm here to understand you." Harleen had spent many nights in an internal debate before coming to a conclusion that she believed was the right one.
She and Daniel had discussed their different points of view many times when they could chat with each other, though it didn't happen often. There was one conversation she remembered deeply.
It was about doing what's right and doing what's necessary.
Something that reminded her of the speech he had given at the conference a few days ago and the reason why she understood why he did what he did in Afghanistan.
This wasn't a fair world.
But that was okay. That's why people like her, like Daniel, existed—to make this unjust world a little more just. That was the difference between Defiant and the woman in front of her. Both believed this world was dark and cruel, but one fought to change it, to make it better, while the other let herself be dragged into that darkness without hesitation, content to leave things as they were and simply laugh at it.
That's why she was here—not to save the woman in front of her. No, she could see now that there was no salvation for her. She was part of a world that would be changed slowly but surely, a mere remnant of a past era, now rotting away in a cell.
She was truly here to study her, to understand what had made her become what she was, and hopefully to prevent it from happening to someone else. That was the change she was referring to. After all, as Daniel had told her:
You can't save them all, so just save as many as you can.
Maybe she couldn't help Defiant by punching bad guys or flying through the skies, but that didn't mean she couldn't be useful in other ways, more specialized ways, just as she had been with the victims of Killgrave.
"You're a curious case, Quinn. Very curious. Just when I thought I could see through you, you show me I was wrong. That almost never happens—it's quite amusing. I wonder, what's underneath all that?" The woman looked at her thoughtfully, as if trying to see through her soul.
It made her uncomfortable.
'What will I see once I break that mask?'
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Harleen entered her office, feeling the weight of fatigue on her shoulders. It had been a while since she'd had such a difficult session. Now, she just wanted to relax a little. Without meaning to, she touched the hidden pocket in her lab coat, but quickly shook her head, clenching her fist and biting her lip.
The temptation was strong, but she had managed to stay firm despite everything. She hoped the hard part would soon pass and, little by little, it would get easier.
"You look stressed," the voice made her stop in her tracks, and she turned her head so quickly that she could have twisted her neck if she weren't as agile and flexible as she was.
Daniel greeted her with a somewhat shy smile. She smiled when she saw him, but in the next instant, her smile faded into a frown and a pout.
"You don't call, you don't write, you disappear, and then you reveal your face to the whole world. You'd better have a great excuse," she said, locking the door to her office and crossing her arms, giving him a stern look.
Daniel scratched his cheek with his finger. Well, there was a lot to explain.
"Well, why don't we talk about it over dinner?" he said, lifting the bag of takeout he had picked up on his way to Rikers.
Harleen looked at the food and remembered she hadn't had dinner yet.
"Alright."
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"Do you ever think!? You could have died, Johnny!" Franklin Storm felt a sharp pain in his head as he looked at his son. When he got the call from the police, he had been terrified and worried—feelings that quickly shifted once he confirmed his son was safe and sound.
Now, he was just angry and disappointed.
"I know! Alright? You don't have to yell at me. I was there... I almost pissed myself when it happened..." Johnny Storm sighed and scratched his head, not daring to meet his father's eyes.
"No! You don't know. If you did, you wouldn't keep doing this!" Franklin grabbed his son's arm and pulled him out of the station, dragging him to the car. For a moment, he considered putting him back in the cell he had just taken him out of, but he couldn't do it, no matter how angry he was.
Seeing his father's car but not his own, Johnny frowned deeply.
"Hey, where's my car?" he asked.
"In the junkyard," the response came quickly, making Johnny blink in disbelief. He watched his father get into the car, still stunned, before quickly reacting, opening the door, and getting in as well.
"The junkyard! Are you crazy, old man?!" he protested with clear indignation.
"No, I've never been more sane. It's over, Johnny, do you hear me? It's over! No more racing, no more cars, and no more parties. Until you straighten up, you're coming with me to the institute, and that's final!" His words were severe and firm. Seeing his father's eyes, Johnny realized that this time he was dead serious.
"Oh, come on! You know I hate that place. Everyone there is super boring and dull. I could fall asleep in half a second just being in there!"
"It's that or nothing, Johnny..." Franklin Storm sighed and looked at his son with a weary expression, the lines on his face deepening, making him look a little older than he really was.
"You have so much potential, son. You could do incredible things if you just tried... please." Johnny felt bad, unable to ignore the exhaustion in his father's voice. A strange bitterness rose in his throat.
"Alright, I'll go to your institute..." he finally sighed, causing a small smile to form at the corner of Franklin's mouth.
As he watched the scenery blur past, Johnny thought of something else. If he was going to the institute, he should be able to figure out a way to get back at that guy. A mischievous smile formed on his lips.
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"Woa… it's amazing," Harleen said, reaching out to touch Daniel's face with fascination.
"It's not foolproof, but it'll help keep my identity hidden for a little while longer."
Harleen nodded and pulled her hand back, letting Daniel turn off the mask and return his face to normal. To think that he had gone through so much in such a short time… it must have been tough.
"Have you been sleeping well?" she asked with concern, and Daniel looked at her, nodding.
"I've been following your advice, Dr. Quinzel—at least six hours a day."
That was good; she had worried that without her constant reminders, he might forget.
"Well, we've talked a lot about me. What about you? How's work been?" At his question, Harleen fell silent for a moment.
Should she tell him about the artificial pheromones?
No… she couldn't let him worry unnecessarily about a problem she had created herself. She was supposed to help him, not give him more work. She could solve this on her own without being a burden.
"Well, things are going well. I've been dealing with some interesting patients, but nothing really worth mentioning."
Daniel nodded, listening but not pressing her with too many questions. After all, she was still a professional, and patient-doctor confidentiality was something she had to maintain.
Of course, knowing who Daniel was, she knew that if she told him certain things, she wouldn't have to worry about him revealing them. So, if he asked, she could tell him, which was, of course, a complete breach of her code. But then again, she had already done questionable things for him, like letting him use the Star Labs facilities illegally, so something like telling him why a patient wet the bed until they were 27 didn't seem like a big deal in comparison.
"I'm glad your work is going well," Daniel finally said when Harleen finished sharing some of the things she'd been up to.
Noticing how he suddenly fell silent, she raised an eyebrow.
"What is it?" At her question, Daniel looked a bit embarrassed.
"Uh, well, I might need your help with something again." At those words, Harleen suddenly straightened up, her expression lighting up with a smile and bright eyes.
She wouldn't admit it out loud, but a very loud part of herself had been worried, doubting. What if Daniel didn't come back? What if, now that the whole Killgrave victims situation was almost completely resolved, he no longer needed her? If she was left behind again....
Those thoughts had been tormenting her for several nights, making it difficult to fall asleep, and it didn't help that she was also suffering from the effects of the abstinence she had inflicted upon herself.
Even so, she convinced herself, telling herself that he would come back, that she could still do a lot to help him, and it seemed she hadn't been lying to herself—he came back, he wanted her help, he needed her.
With her heart racing and a huge smile on her face, she reached out to squeeze his hand.
"Tell me everything." Feeling her grip, Daniel smiled and nodded. Explaining it was easy since Harleen already knew about Gen-M; he just had to update her on the new discoveries he had made.
She listened attentively, asking questions when necessary and expertly answering the questions Daniel had, bringing forth all the knowledge she had acquired over her years of study.
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Note:
Writing this chapter was difficult. The Joker... is a complicated character. Martha as the Joker? Twice as complicated. I had to make several drafts before I was even moderately convinced. I still feel that I need to improve on the character's portrayal, but I believe I'll get there when the time is right.
Let me know what you think. You know I read all the comments, critiques, and suggestions. If you notice any errors, point them out, and I'll correct them immediately. Good night/afternoon/morning, and see you in the next chapter.
Finally remember that You can already find the next chapter (and several more chapters) of this story on Patreon (patreon.com/EmmaCruzader ) All the support received is appreciated ;D
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Arimai
Curmudgeon
I missed something. Martha who? Emma Cruzader
In this world it was 10 year old Bruce Wayne who died in Crime Alley, causing his mother, Martha Wayne, to become the Joker and his father to become Batman. It's based off of a Flashpoint storyline, I think
Arimai
Curmudgeon
Wtf!? It'd be a mercy to kill her.
37: Apex
New
- Location
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37: Apex
"I know you said I shouldn't worry, but I'm really concerned. I don't want to doubt you, Carol, but..." Chloe didn't know how to put it into words.
What do you say to your best friend when she confesses that she's been using you as an excuse for a while to meet up with someone else? An older guy, no less.
It sounded like one of those cheesy teen dramas that usually ended very badly for the girl.
"But nothing, Chloe, you promised me you wouldn't say anything," Carol said with a frown. She really had been using Chloe too much as an excuse, something that only worked for so long because for most of her life, Chloe had been the only person Carol would go out with or hang out with.
Her parents knew Chloe perfectly and treated her like another daughter. Besides, Carol had never lied or hidden anything from them before, so they didn't think she was lying when she said she was spending time with Chloe.
Of course, a lie like that would fall apart sooner or later if, for some reason, her parents decided to call Chloe to ask about her and she couldn't lie properly. So Carol knew she had to tell Chloe about this at some point but had never found the opportunity until now.
Well, the opportunity had come, and she hoped Chloe would be on her side here.
The blonde girl bit her lip as she gripped the steering wheel of her car. They were on their way to Carol's house after a few hours of talking at the café where they'd been earlier. Carol had told her many things during that time.
Things that made her worry, mainly because Carol had omitted many things or explained them differently from how they actually happened to protect Daniel's true identity and, in turn, her own.
From Chloe's perspective, her friend had been tricked by an older guy with money. She still remembered how the guy dropped $100 without blinking before leaving, not to mention how Carol talked about how he had "given" her several things.
Of course, Chloe couldn't know that Carol was mainly referring to the suit he made for her as well as the trench coat. She was vague about it for obvious reasons.
So, Chloe was in a dilemma. On the one hand, she had promised Carol to stay quiet and not say anything. On the other hand, her more protective side was burning with rage for not being able to prevent her friend from falling into the sinister clutches of a clearly ill-intentioned guy who had come from the city and used his dirty tactics to sweet-talk her and clearly take advantage of her naivety.
Of course, if Chloe knew that it was actually Carol who wanted to take advantage of Daniel, she would probably be stunned.
"Fine, but you have to be careful, do you hear me? If he does something or tries to make you do something—" she tried to warn, but Carol interrupted her.
"I already told you that's not how it is!" Carol wanted to sigh in frustration.
'Yes, he's completely brainwashed her,' Chloe gritted her teeth, seeing her friend so defensive.
Soon they arrived at the driveway to Carol's house, where Mr. Kent was looking off into the distance, distracted. When he saw Carol arrive with Chloe, he couldn't help but sigh in relief and waved in their direction.
Seeing her father at the door of her house, Carol frowned. He had been increasingly stressed with each new piece of news about the changes happening in the world.
He needed to relax. Honestly, she didn't understand why he was so worried. Sure, the world was a bit chaotic, but it was fine. Daniel was there to keep it together, and in a way, so was she.
Before getting out of the car, she turned to Chloe one last time, looking at her seriously.
Feeling her gaze, Chloe let out a long sigh before speaking.
"I won't say anything," she finally said, making Carol smile and, for the first time, move closer to give her a light hug.
"Thank you," she whispered sincerely, making Chloe feel bittersweet.
The first time her friend showed her physical affection, and it was because she agreed to cover up her secret affair with an older guy... what a joy.
"See you in class," Carol said goodbye, walking toward her house, leaving Chloe alone, watching her walk away.
'I'm already regretting this.' She couldn't betray Carol. Carol had trusted her, but she would be a terrible friend if she didn't at least make sure she wasn't in danger. So she would have to do it her way.
By investigating this guy and seeing what he was after.
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"How was your day with Chloe? I hope she's feeling better; she seemed pretty affected by what happened," her mother asked while serving dinner at the table with her help.
"She's better. She adapts quickly; something like that won't hold her back for long," she replied distractedly. Of course, Chloe had been affected, but that wouldn't stop her easily, especially when it was somewhat related to her dream of becoming a journalist.
"That's good. With school starting again, I was worried she'd still be upset," her mother commented as everyone sat at the table. Her father, who had been silent, picked up the TV remote and turned it on, making her mother frown.
"The question is, will these incidents continue to happen? Experts predict that the emergence of special individuals like Defiant and, to some extent, Tony Stark with his alter ego Iron Man, marks the beginning of a new wave of super individuals. Rumors about monsters attacking people, which were once considered mere tales, can no longer be dismissed, not to mention the series of strange incidents that have been increasing as the days go by. Witnesses claim that—"
"Jonathan, why don't we skip the news for today?" Her husband's new habit of watching the news almost all the time had been worrying the woman.
Hearing his wife, Jonathan frowned but didn't take his eyes off the TV.
Seeing the situation, Carol decided it was time to intervene. She didn't know exactly what to do, but she would at least try to do something.
In a blink, the remote was in her hand, and the TV was off. Her father looked at his empty hand, confused for a moment, before looking at her with clear annoyance.
"Carol, what—"
"I think you need to stop," she quickly interrupted him.
"Dad, I know you worry a lot about me, I really do, but you need to go back to being how you were before. Continuing to act like this won't make things different, and it won't help me if I'm really in trouble," she said seriously, and Jonathan was silent for a moment.
"Honey, she's right. The world isn't what it used to be, and acting all paranoid and stressed about it isn't helping us. You need to go back to being who you were before," Martha added, deciding to support her daughter.
For his part, Jonathan didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Was this an intervention? He wanted to argue, to make his case, but seeing their worried expressions, he couldn't do it.
Had he really been acting that badly?
But how could he avoid it? How could he go back to feeling safe when the world seemed to get stranger and more dangerous every day? By trusting Defiant? That billionaire playboy Tony Stark?
Jonathan wouldn't even trust them with the fertilizer for his fields.
"Listen, Dad, I'm not a little girl anymore. I know you want to protect me, but... I don't need it."
At his daughter's words, Jonathan frowned deeply. She didn't need it? What kind of daughter didn't need her father? And more importantly, what kind of father couldn't protect his daughter?
He couldn't help but bury his face in his hands, feeling the helplessness wash over him once more. Jonathan had been raised as a country man, and as a country man, he felt like he was failing his family.
Seeing him like that, Martha sighed. She understood what her husband was going through, but just because she understood didn't mean she would let it continue.
Her daughter was right; this needed to stop before it started causing them problems.
"Carol, why don't you go to your 'fortress' for a while? I need to talk to your father."
Hearing her tone, Carol knew that this time her mother was ready to really step in, so she decided to give them their space.
"Of course." She took her plate, stood up, and began heading to the barn to finish her dinner there, leaving her parents alone to talk freely.
Of course, that was when she heard the air shifting in the sky and the familiar sound of heartbeats—one that couldn't have come at a better time. With a smile on her face, Carol changed direction without hesitation and started heading toward Daniel's farm with a spring in her step.
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Daniel entered his workshop without hesitation, his mind filled with various thoughts. His conversation with Harleen had given him some ideas about his next course of research regarding the transformation of humans into monsters and how an emotional trigger might be causing this.
Of course, it was all still theories and hypotheses that needed more research, more examples—examples he believed he would soon see one way or another.
Even so, it wasn't something he could rush, so he just had to be patient—something frustrating but that he could grudgingly accept.
When he entered and saw the device he had left working, he approached it without hesitation, verifying that the scan had been completed properly—not just once but several times. After all, he had left the device running beyond the initial two hours it needed, so it had been repeating the scan as he had programmed it to do in case he didn't return in time, thereby obtaining a more detailed mapping of the area where the kryptonite was present.
Seeing the map and the calculated amount left him with a dry mouth.
Collecting that much could take more than a day.
"You're back!" Carol's excited voice echoed. She entered the workshop as if it were her own home but immediately frowned for two different reasons.
The first was seeing the kryptonite sample carefully placed inside the antenna Daniel had designed, which acted as a sample to search for similar radioactive signatures in the surroundings.
The second was because she caught a whiff of an unpleasantly familiar scent on him—one she recognized as belonging to an annoying blonde.
"Well, you're here, look at this." Daniel approached her with the tablet in his hands, showing her the map of Smallville and its surroundings, along with markers of the locations where the most kryptonite had been detected.
"These should be the places where the meteorites hit the hardest and weren't cleaned up afterward. There's at least several tons of kryptonite scattered throughout this region. It'll take some time to gather it all and take it to the fortress. I'll have to start soon if I want to collect it all before the week is over."
Carol distractedly looked at the map, not knowing exactly what to say. Should she be angry? Happy? Jealous? She decided that being angry and jealous was useless for now. Instead, she focused on feeling pleased to see Daniel working so hard to help her.
Then she processed what he had said—Several tons?!
"T-That's a lot of kryptonite," she couldn't help but comment, a hint of nervousness in her voice.
"Yes, I didn't expect there to be so much around here. I still don't know how much more might be scattered across the country or around the world. I suppose we'll find out once I build a larger scanner." The prospect was a bit unsettling, and Carol couldn't help but feel even more grateful to Daniel. Without him, who knows how much trouble she might have gotten into with so much kryptonite out there.
Yes, looking at Daniel, she couldn't help but smile. Her father was worrying for nothing—after all, she already had someone to protect her.
.
.
.
"Combination of genetic traits between species successfully completed."
Dr. Curt Connors took several steps back, his body trembling as he saw the message on the central laboratory computer screen.
He couldn't believe it—he had succeeded and was one step closer to achieving his goal!
"I need to report this!" He nervously searched for his phone, thinking about everything this meant.
Things had been tense—very tense. Oscorp Industries had nearly plunged into crisis when Tony Stark returned. It seemed like the opportunity that had knocked on their door just a few months ago was slipping away, and there was nothing they could do about it.
Until the very day of his return, the man announced the complete withdrawal of Stark Industries from the military market. Stark Industries' stocks plummeted, and the military, which had previously been hesitant about whether cooperating with companies other than Stark Industries was a good idea, now began actively looking at other options.
Oscorp Industries seized the opportunity without hesitation to renegotiate the nearly expired military contract that had been hanging over their heads like a guillotine, giving them room to maneuver and extra time—time they undoubtedly needed, time that Connors needed.
If he had been under the same time constraints that Norman had initially given him, Connors would have surely failed.
His experiments with genetically modified spiders had been an absolute disaster at the beginning.
Of the 52 specimens that had been successfully created years ago by Richard Parker, more than 47 had died in the numerous processes Connors conducted to learn more about the successful method Richard used to modify them genetically.
And although he had discovered a few things, he was still at a dead end regarding many crucial aspects of the process, which frustrated him. He was down to only five spiders; he couldn't keep killing them to learn more, so he had to work with what he had, hoping it would be enough.
It wasn't.
The first two spiders he tried to fuse with other species died horribly.
None managed to acquire the genetic traits of regeneration provided by the lizard, and instead, their genetic structure collapsed with no chance of recovery.
This left him with only three spiders...
Curt couldn't keep taking risks; he needed to do something, to find a way for the spiders to survive the process at all costs. As long as he could make some progress, as long as he could show results, Norman would surely see the possibilities... The man convinced himself that he wouldn't be thrown out on the street, and all his research discarded as long as he had something to show.
Therefore, he changed his focus. He needed to make the spiders strong, resilient, and adaptable, capable of enduring the process of interspecies genetic combination as best as possible.
So he went back to basics: genetic modification within the same species.
This was something that had already been successfully achieved a long time ago and was the foundation on which his research was based.
He took the three remaining spiders and began modifying them slightly at first, adding the genetic traits they lacked from each other. After all, although the 52 spiders had been modified in the same basic way, each was designed with different genetic traits.
Some were stronger, some faster, some had better venom, or better camouflage.
Some were a mix of all these traits or various others.
Not anymore. The remaining three spiders were given everything that the other 49 had possessed—a risky process, but one that was completely successful and without complications, likely thanks to the mysterious method Richard Parker had used to create them in the first place.
Thus, three apex individuals were born, monsters among monsters, spiders unlike any seen before, with the best that their species could offer, all perfectly combined within their genetic chain.
If Connors had to compare them, he would say they were the super-soldiers of spiders, only much more beyond that.
They had a wingspan of 15 centimeters, with red and blue colors that glowed with exotic patterns on their bodies.
A super-species had been born, and Connors could only admire it for a moment before deciding to destroy it.
Because that's what happened: when he began integrating the lizard's genetic trait into them, the two chosen spiders died immediately.
The apex of their species was destroyed in seconds...
In absolute desperation, Connors made a final attempt to investigate their remains to see where he had gone wrong, what he had done wrong.
He was missing something, but he couldn't see what it was.
With his desperation at its peak and nothing left to lose, he pulled out the old notes Oscorp had on the first super soldier.
Captain America.
He tirelessly read every document available, every speculation, the step-by-step process that had been carried out.
"Radiation? Vita rays?" A stabilizing energy, used to enhance the serum's effects...
The Vita radiation was something that had been discovered a long time ago, mainly used to create the first super soldier. But after the project failed with the death of Dr. Erskine and the loss of the serum, it was set aside, rarely used over time.
"It could... it could work." After all, the project had originally been conceived as an attempt to recreate the super soldier serum, albeit taking a different path. Although radiation had been considered initially, it was quickly dismissed due to its various drawbacks. But now... now Connors saw no other option.
Without hesitation, he requested a Vita ray generator, which Oscorp had on hand as it was one of the first devices they recreated when the project for a new super soldier serum began. Even if it was later discarded, the generator was still kept in their warehouses, gathering dust.
Once he had it in his hands, he created a metal capsule following the same parameters as the one used to create Captain America, only spider-sized.
It took him several days to get everything ready, but once he did, he began the process once again.
He injected the lizard serum into the spider while simultaneously imbued it with overflowing Vita radiation. For a moment, the entire lab was flooded with a blinding yellow light, then it stopped, and Connors looked at the capsule with his heart in his throat.
He waited, waited until the scanner finished working, and then the announcement came.
"Combination of genetic traits between species successfully completed."
His knees trembled, he felt his heart start beating strongly once more, and he almost felt tears of joy welling up in his eyes.
Then, he quickly reached for his phone to notify of his success, rushing out of the lab, trusting that the capsule would keep his test subject safe.
But, when the lab was left alone, a creaking sound was heard. There was a flash, like electricity, followed by the sound of metal tearing.
Two hairy front legs tore an opening in the metal of the capsule easily, and faster than the eye could catch, a web shot upward, followed by a small, glowing eight-legged figure that stuck to the lab's ceiling.
It remained still for a moment, and if anyone had been there to see it, they would have been stunned to witness how the air rippled and the figure seemed to disappear entirely as if it had become invisible.
The only sign that it had ever been there was the thin strand of web now swaying in the wind.
.
.
.
Note:
Of course, leave your newly finished experiment alone, what could possibly go wrong?
Leave your comments, opinions, suggestions, and so on. If you notice any errors, don't hesitate to mention them. Thanks for reading and for all the support!
Finally remember that You can already find the next chapter (and several more chapters) of this story on Patreon ( patreon.com/EmmaCruzader ) All the support received is appreciated ;D
"I know you said I shouldn't worry, but I'm really concerned. I don't want to doubt you, Carol, but..." Chloe didn't know how to put it into words.
What do you say to your best friend when she confesses that she's been using you as an excuse for a while to meet up with someone else? An older guy, no less.
It sounded like one of those cheesy teen dramas that usually ended very badly for the girl.
"But nothing, Chloe, you promised me you wouldn't say anything," Carol said with a frown. She really had been using Chloe too much as an excuse, something that only worked for so long because for most of her life, Chloe had been the only person Carol would go out with or hang out with.
Her parents knew Chloe perfectly and treated her like another daughter. Besides, Carol had never lied or hidden anything from them before, so they didn't think she was lying when she said she was spending time with Chloe.
Of course, a lie like that would fall apart sooner or later if, for some reason, her parents decided to call Chloe to ask about her and she couldn't lie properly. So Carol knew she had to tell Chloe about this at some point but had never found the opportunity until now.
Well, the opportunity had come, and she hoped Chloe would be on her side here.
The blonde girl bit her lip as she gripped the steering wheel of her car. They were on their way to Carol's house after a few hours of talking at the café where they'd been earlier. Carol had told her many things during that time.
Things that made her worry, mainly because Carol had omitted many things or explained them differently from how they actually happened to protect Daniel's true identity and, in turn, her own.
From Chloe's perspective, her friend had been tricked by an older guy with money. She still remembered how the guy dropped $100 without blinking before leaving, not to mention how Carol talked about how he had "given" her several things.
Of course, Chloe couldn't know that Carol was mainly referring to the suit he made for her as well as the trench coat. She was vague about it for obvious reasons.
So, Chloe was in a dilemma. On the one hand, she had promised Carol to stay quiet and not say anything. On the other hand, her more protective side was burning with rage for not being able to prevent her friend from falling into the sinister clutches of a clearly ill-intentioned guy who had come from the city and used his dirty tactics to sweet-talk her and clearly take advantage of her naivety.
Of course, if Chloe knew that it was actually Carol who wanted to take advantage of Daniel, she would probably be stunned.
"Fine, but you have to be careful, do you hear me? If he does something or tries to make you do something—" she tried to warn, but Carol interrupted her.
"I already told you that's not how it is!" Carol wanted to sigh in frustration.
'Yes, he's completely brainwashed her,' Chloe gritted her teeth, seeing her friend so defensive.
Soon they arrived at the driveway to Carol's house, where Mr. Kent was looking off into the distance, distracted. When he saw Carol arrive with Chloe, he couldn't help but sigh in relief and waved in their direction.
Seeing her father at the door of her house, Carol frowned. He had been increasingly stressed with each new piece of news about the changes happening in the world.
He needed to relax. Honestly, she didn't understand why he was so worried. Sure, the world was a bit chaotic, but it was fine. Daniel was there to keep it together, and in a way, so was she.
Before getting out of the car, she turned to Chloe one last time, looking at her seriously.
Feeling her gaze, Chloe let out a long sigh before speaking.
"I won't say anything," she finally said, making Carol smile and, for the first time, move closer to give her a light hug.
"Thank you," she whispered sincerely, making Chloe feel bittersweet.
The first time her friend showed her physical affection, and it was because she agreed to cover up her secret affair with an older guy... what a joy.
"See you in class," Carol said goodbye, walking toward her house, leaving Chloe alone, watching her walk away.
'I'm already regretting this.' She couldn't betray Carol. Carol had trusted her, but she would be a terrible friend if she didn't at least make sure she wasn't in danger. So she would have to do it her way.
By investigating this guy and seeing what he was after.
.
.
.
"How was your day with Chloe? I hope she's feeling better; she seemed pretty affected by what happened," her mother asked while serving dinner at the table with her help.
"She's better. She adapts quickly; something like that won't hold her back for long," she replied distractedly. Of course, Chloe had been affected, but that wouldn't stop her easily, especially when it was somewhat related to her dream of becoming a journalist.
"That's good. With school starting again, I was worried she'd still be upset," her mother commented as everyone sat at the table. Her father, who had been silent, picked up the TV remote and turned it on, making her mother frown.
"The question is, will these incidents continue to happen? Experts predict that the emergence of special individuals like Defiant and, to some extent, Tony Stark with his alter ego Iron Man, marks the beginning of a new wave of super individuals. Rumors about monsters attacking people, which were once considered mere tales, can no longer be dismissed, not to mention the series of strange incidents that have been increasing as the days go by. Witnesses claim that—"
"Jonathan, why don't we skip the news for today?" Her husband's new habit of watching the news almost all the time had been worrying the woman.
Hearing his wife, Jonathan frowned but didn't take his eyes off the TV.
Seeing the situation, Carol decided it was time to intervene. She didn't know exactly what to do, but she would at least try to do something.
In a blink, the remote was in her hand, and the TV was off. Her father looked at his empty hand, confused for a moment, before looking at her with clear annoyance.
"Carol, what—"
"I think you need to stop," she quickly interrupted him.
"Dad, I know you worry a lot about me, I really do, but you need to go back to being how you were before. Continuing to act like this won't make things different, and it won't help me if I'm really in trouble," she said seriously, and Jonathan was silent for a moment.
"Honey, she's right. The world isn't what it used to be, and acting all paranoid and stressed about it isn't helping us. You need to go back to being who you were before," Martha added, deciding to support her daughter.
For his part, Jonathan didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Was this an intervention? He wanted to argue, to make his case, but seeing their worried expressions, he couldn't do it.
Had he really been acting that badly?
But how could he avoid it? How could he go back to feeling safe when the world seemed to get stranger and more dangerous every day? By trusting Defiant? That billionaire playboy Tony Stark?
Jonathan wouldn't even trust them with the fertilizer for his fields.
"Listen, Dad, I'm not a little girl anymore. I know you want to protect me, but... I don't need it."
At his daughter's words, Jonathan frowned deeply. She didn't need it? What kind of daughter didn't need her father? And more importantly, what kind of father couldn't protect his daughter?
He couldn't help but bury his face in his hands, feeling the helplessness wash over him once more. Jonathan had been raised as a country man, and as a country man, he felt like he was failing his family.
Seeing him like that, Martha sighed. She understood what her husband was going through, but just because she understood didn't mean she would let it continue.
Her daughter was right; this needed to stop before it started causing them problems.
"Carol, why don't you go to your 'fortress' for a while? I need to talk to your father."
Hearing her tone, Carol knew that this time her mother was ready to really step in, so she decided to give them their space.
"Of course." She took her plate, stood up, and began heading to the barn to finish her dinner there, leaving her parents alone to talk freely.
Of course, that was when she heard the air shifting in the sky and the familiar sound of heartbeats—one that couldn't have come at a better time. With a smile on her face, Carol changed direction without hesitation and started heading toward Daniel's farm with a spring in her step.
.
.
.
Daniel entered his workshop without hesitation, his mind filled with various thoughts. His conversation with Harleen had given him some ideas about his next course of research regarding the transformation of humans into monsters and how an emotional trigger might be causing this.
Of course, it was all still theories and hypotheses that needed more research, more examples—examples he believed he would soon see one way or another.
Even so, it wasn't something he could rush, so he just had to be patient—something frustrating but that he could grudgingly accept.
When he entered and saw the device he had left working, he approached it without hesitation, verifying that the scan had been completed properly—not just once but several times. After all, he had left the device running beyond the initial two hours it needed, so it had been repeating the scan as he had programmed it to do in case he didn't return in time, thereby obtaining a more detailed mapping of the area where the kryptonite was present.
Seeing the map and the calculated amount left him with a dry mouth.
Collecting that much could take more than a day.
"You're back!" Carol's excited voice echoed. She entered the workshop as if it were her own home but immediately frowned for two different reasons.
The first was seeing the kryptonite sample carefully placed inside the antenna Daniel had designed, which acted as a sample to search for similar radioactive signatures in the surroundings.
The second was because she caught a whiff of an unpleasantly familiar scent on him—one she recognized as belonging to an annoying blonde.
"Well, you're here, look at this." Daniel approached her with the tablet in his hands, showing her the map of Smallville and its surroundings, along with markers of the locations where the most kryptonite had been detected.
"These should be the places where the meteorites hit the hardest and weren't cleaned up afterward. There's at least several tons of kryptonite scattered throughout this region. It'll take some time to gather it all and take it to the fortress. I'll have to start soon if I want to collect it all before the week is over."
Carol distractedly looked at the map, not knowing exactly what to say. Should she be angry? Happy? Jealous? She decided that being angry and jealous was useless for now. Instead, she focused on feeling pleased to see Daniel working so hard to help her.
Then she processed what he had said—Several tons?!
"T-That's a lot of kryptonite," she couldn't help but comment, a hint of nervousness in her voice.
"Yes, I didn't expect there to be so much around here. I still don't know how much more might be scattered across the country or around the world. I suppose we'll find out once I build a larger scanner." The prospect was a bit unsettling, and Carol couldn't help but feel even more grateful to Daniel. Without him, who knows how much trouble she might have gotten into with so much kryptonite out there.
Yes, looking at Daniel, she couldn't help but smile. Her father was worrying for nothing—after all, she already had someone to protect her.
.
.
.
"Combination of genetic traits between species successfully completed."
Dr. Curt Connors took several steps back, his body trembling as he saw the message on the central laboratory computer screen.
He couldn't believe it—he had succeeded and was one step closer to achieving his goal!
"I need to report this!" He nervously searched for his phone, thinking about everything this meant.
Things had been tense—very tense. Oscorp Industries had nearly plunged into crisis when Tony Stark returned. It seemed like the opportunity that had knocked on their door just a few months ago was slipping away, and there was nothing they could do about it.
Until the very day of his return, the man announced the complete withdrawal of Stark Industries from the military market. Stark Industries' stocks plummeted, and the military, which had previously been hesitant about whether cooperating with companies other than Stark Industries was a good idea, now began actively looking at other options.
Oscorp Industries seized the opportunity without hesitation to renegotiate the nearly expired military contract that had been hanging over their heads like a guillotine, giving them room to maneuver and extra time—time they undoubtedly needed, time that Connors needed.
If he had been under the same time constraints that Norman had initially given him, Connors would have surely failed.
His experiments with genetically modified spiders had been an absolute disaster at the beginning.
Of the 52 specimens that had been successfully created years ago by Richard Parker, more than 47 had died in the numerous processes Connors conducted to learn more about the successful method Richard used to modify them genetically.
And although he had discovered a few things, he was still at a dead end regarding many crucial aspects of the process, which frustrated him. He was down to only five spiders; he couldn't keep killing them to learn more, so he had to work with what he had, hoping it would be enough.
It wasn't.
The first two spiders he tried to fuse with other species died horribly.
None managed to acquire the genetic traits of regeneration provided by the lizard, and instead, their genetic structure collapsed with no chance of recovery.
This left him with only three spiders...
Curt couldn't keep taking risks; he needed to do something, to find a way for the spiders to survive the process at all costs. As long as he could make some progress, as long as he could show results, Norman would surely see the possibilities... The man convinced himself that he wouldn't be thrown out on the street, and all his research discarded as long as he had something to show.
Therefore, he changed his focus. He needed to make the spiders strong, resilient, and adaptable, capable of enduring the process of interspecies genetic combination as best as possible.
So he went back to basics: genetic modification within the same species.
This was something that had already been successfully achieved a long time ago and was the foundation on which his research was based.
He took the three remaining spiders and began modifying them slightly at first, adding the genetic traits they lacked from each other. After all, although the 52 spiders had been modified in the same basic way, each was designed with different genetic traits.
Some were stronger, some faster, some had better venom, or better camouflage.
Some were a mix of all these traits or various others.
Not anymore. The remaining three spiders were given everything that the other 49 had possessed—a risky process, but one that was completely successful and without complications, likely thanks to the mysterious method Richard Parker had used to create them in the first place.
Thus, three apex individuals were born, monsters among monsters, spiders unlike any seen before, with the best that their species could offer, all perfectly combined within their genetic chain.
If Connors had to compare them, he would say they were the super-soldiers of spiders, only much more beyond that.
They had a wingspan of 15 centimeters, with red and blue colors that glowed with exotic patterns on their bodies.
A super-species had been born, and Connors could only admire it for a moment before deciding to destroy it.
Because that's what happened: when he began integrating the lizard's genetic trait into them, the two chosen spiders died immediately.
The apex of their species was destroyed in seconds...
In absolute desperation, Connors made a final attempt to investigate their remains to see where he had gone wrong, what he had done wrong.
He was missing something, but he couldn't see what it was.
With his desperation at its peak and nothing left to lose, he pulled out the old notes Oscorp had on the first super soldier.
Captain America.
He tirelessly read every document available, every speculation, the step-by-step process that had been carried out.
"Radiation? Vita rays?" A stabilizing energy, used to enhance the serum's effects...
The Vita radiation was something that had been discovered a long time ago, mainly used to create the first super soldier. But after the project failed with the death of Dr. Erskine and the loss of the serum, it was set aside, rarely used over time.
"It could... it could work." After all, the project had originally been conceived as an attempt to recreate the super soldier serum, albeit taking a different path. Although radiation had been considered initially, it was quickly dismissed due to its various drawbacks. But now... now Connors saw no other option.
Without hesitation, he requested a Vita ray generator, which Oscorp had on hand as it was one of the first devices they recreated when the project for a new super soldier serum began. Even if it was later discarded, the generator was still kept in their warehouses, gathering dust.
Once he had it in his hands, he created a metal capsule following the same parameters as the one used to create Captain America, only spider-sized.
It took him several days to get everything ready, but once he did, he began the process once again.
He injected the lizard serum into the spider while simultaneously imbued it with overflowing Vita radiation. For a moment, the entire lab was flooded with a blinding yellow light, then it stopped, and Connors looked at the capsule with his heart in his throat.
He waited, waited until the scanner finished working, and then the announcement came.
"Combination of genetic traits between species successfully completed."
His knees trembled, he felt his heart start beating strongly once more, and he almost felt tears of joy welling up in his eyes.
Then, he quickly reached for his phone to notify of his success, rushing out of the lab, trusting that the capsule would keep his test subject safe.
But, when the lab was left alone, a creaking sound was heard. There was a flash, like electricity, followed by the sound of metal tearing.
Two hairy front legs tore an opening in the metal of the capsule easily, and faster than the eye could catch, a web shot upward, followed by a small, glowing eight-legged figure that stuck to the lab's ceiling.
It remained still for a moment, and if anyone had been there to see it, they would have been stunned to witness how the air rippled and the figure seemed to disappear entirely as if it had become invisible.
The only sign that it had ever been there was the thin strand of web now swaying in the wind.
.
.
.
Note:
Of course, leave your newly finished experiment alone, what could possibly go wrong?
Leave your comments, opinions, suggestions, and so on. If you notice any errors, don't hesitate to mention them. Thanks for reading and for all the support!
Finally remember that You can already find the next chapter (and several more chapters) of this story on Patreon ( patreon.com/EmmaCruzader ) All the support received is appreciated ;D
illustrations 2: Carol
New
- Location
- Eart
Carol Illust: 2
This time it is a simpler and more casual drawing than the previous one since I have not had much free time, I hope to bring more elaborate things later.
This time it is a simpler and more casual drawing than the previous one since I have not had much free time, I hope to bring more elaborate things later.
