Still Defiant! SI-OC [Marvel/DC]

57: Order

"Well, this is unexpected." Daniel moved his gaze away from the microscope and scratched his chin, feeling the incipient stubble between his fingers.

He was currently in his workshop. After saying goodbye to Carol, he had decided to do some simple work on his fabric printers and, in passing, take a quick look at the blood sample Tony had given him.

Just a quick check before taking it to the fortress, where he could use Kryptonian technology for a proper in-depth analysis. There was no other way—his workshop was not a laboratory, and he didn't have the right equipment to properly investigate this.

Of course, he could use the same method he had when he first started researching the M gene and the X gene, but why keep sneaking into other people's labs when he had a better option? Even if that option was, in essence, taking advantage of Carol's inheritance.

He really needed his own secret base.

Deciding not to dwell on that for now, he focused on the small surprise he had found when examining part of the blood sample under the microscope.

"I thought the Extremis virus was about nanotechnology." At least that was what his memories of the virus had been telling him. But not for the first time, the information in his memories had proven to be wrong—at least for the most part.

"This is pure high-level genetic manipulation… This… this could be the solution I've been looking for." Maybe he was getting ahead of himself, but it seemed promising.

Of course, in its current state, it wasn't of much use to him—other than creating explosive super-soldiers, of course. But no, it wasn't the Extremis serum itself that excited Daniel, but rather the way it had been created.

Or at least the way he thought it had been created. He still needed to verify it, to understand the real process to be sure. And that could only be achieved in two ways: obtaining it from the Ten Rings or reverse-engineering the blood sample in his possession.

Neither of those options was something he could accomplish anytime soon, but at least he knew that sooner or later, he would be able to.

"It's a small hope, but it's better than what I had until now."

Somehow, things kept turning out well. That gave him optimism, but at the same time, it made him hesitate. For a moment, he stood still and looked around suspiciously.

'Maybe I'm getting a little too paranoid,' he thought when nothing happened.

Leaning back comfortably in his chair, Daniel looked around his workshop with a hint of boredom. It was a rather quiet night—if you didn't count the dozen or so monitors in his workshop displaying different news from all over the world.

His eyes scanned each screen, finding nothing that warranted his attention.

'It's very peaceful.' It had been a while since he had simply stayed still, without feeling the need to be somewhere or doing something.

It was relaxing, and before he knew it, his eyelids began to droop.

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Then, of course, he had to wake up.

With the smell of hot coffee reaching his nostrils, Daniel opened his eyes and looked around. He really loved his new powers—or at this moment, his back would have had a serious problem from falling asleep where he did.

Stretching, more out of habit than necessity, he tracked the scent of coffee to his desk, where a cup filled with the sacred life-giving liquid awaited him.

Beside it, a paper note rested against the cup. Daniel didn't need to be a psychic to know who had done this.

"She acts too much like she's my wife," he thought, amused—and slightly terrified.

Marriage—the most cruel demonic contract of all.

He had nothing against those men willing to give away their souls like that, but he certainly would never be one of them. Maybe if he were still human, he would consider it—sooner or later, you have to settle down, right? But as a Viltrumite with a theoretically eternal lifespan, the thought of being tied to just one person forever wasn't exactly appealing.

'No, I don't want to keep thinking about that.' He stopped himself before his brain could drag up some rather sinister memories from his past. The only thing that mattered now was that he was free—and free he would stay.

'I miss you a lot, Mom, but all the gods know how glad I am that I don't have to keep listening to you talk about my wedding anymore.'

Just thinking about those conversations made him shudder.

Shaking his head, he stood up and took the cup, taking a long sip. Then, pressing one of the buttons on his keyboard, he reactivated the sound on all the screens. He hadn't turned it off, but Carol probably had when she came by.

With the sound of the morning news filling his ears, Daniel began preparing for the start of his day.

"Mr. Stark, what can you tell us about the attack on your new building yesterday?"

On one of the screens, the image of several reporters surrounding Tony appeared as he exited Stark Tower.

"Did no one tell you I was going to hold a press conference? You guys are really bad at your jobs," Tony mocked as he kept walking, easily making his way through the crowd. For a moment, it seemed like he was going to ignore all questions, but when he reached his car and opened the door, he didn't get in right away. Instead, he turned around, taking off the dark sunglasses he had been wearing.

"I have a lot to say, but since you're all so curious, I'll give you a little spoiler. Anyone here remember the Ten Rings? You know, that band of terrorist assassins who kidnapped me?"

At his question, many nodded enthusiastically but didn't interrupt, knowing that if they let him talk, they would surely get a big piece of news.

"I see you're all aware. Well, those 'bad guys' decided they hadn't had enough of me after I kicked their ass in Afghanistan, so they came back for more. The result? I kicked their asses again." Tony smiled mockingly, but then his expression turned more serious.

"This pathetic attempt to kill me and steal my technology has exhausted my patience, and I want to take this moment to send a message to your leader. I don't know who you are, nor do I care, but one thing I am certain of is that you are a coward," Tony exclaimed, staring intensely at the cameras recording him. Then, he continued.

"Keep sacrificing your men like pawns, send as many as you want, but rest assured—you will never get what you're after. And if you're brave enough, I dare you to come out of your hiding place and try it yourself. You know where I live. But… I know you won't," he taunted before getting into his car. But just before leaving, he added one more thing.

"So keep hiding. It won't last. I will find you—sooner or later. I promise."

With that, Tony drove off, and Daniel couldn't help but sigh. Well, this was bound to happen sooner or later. He could see how angry the man had been. He didn't blame him—if someone decided to attack his farm, he'd probably be just as, if not more, furious.

"You're getting yourself into a dangerous game, Tony," he murmured.

When the enemy can strike anywhere, at any time, the chances of something going wrong are way too high.

But at the same time, if you already know you're going to be attacked, then you can prepare and never be caught off guard. He just hoped Tony wouldn't get too overconfident.

Daniel watched the rest of the news for a few more minutes, searching for anything that might require his intervention. But everything seemed calm in the world, so he left his workshop and went to his room to grab his suit.

Since he still had a streak of good luck on his side, he figured he might as well take care of another problem he had been postponing—namely waking harleen.

Soon, Daniel left his farm, taking off into the skies toward the fortress.

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"I must admit, humans continue to surprise me," Lara said, looking at the blood sample Daniel had handed her a few minutes ago.

"You should never underestimate them. The vast majority may not stand out much, but the few who do will exceed any expectations you might have," Daniel said, looking at the data projected before him.

That's why he liked humans. Even if they seemed 'weak' compared to other races in the universe, the truth was that when they set their minds to it, they could achieve amazing things—even if, at times, it meant hurting many others.

'This could be more complicated than I expected,' he admitted to himself once he finished analyzing the data from the fortress's genetic scan.

It hadn't been obvious at first, but with real-time data in front of him, he realized that the blood was destabilizing. Extremis was too volatile, and when the "host" showed signs of irreparable vital loss, the virus began to self-destruct, abruptly releasing all the accumulated energy in each cell.

He didn't know if this was incidental or something deliberately programmed by whoever created Extremis as a way to prevent others from stealing their work—a highly effective self-destruction mechanism.

'I'll need a lot more samples if I really want to get something useful out of this.' A live subject would be ideal, but he doubted it would be easy to capture one without them either committing suicide or being killed.

"Is there any way you can keep the cells alive?" he asked, looking at Lara's hologram.

"Given the energy they're releasing, any traditional method is useless. I could try creating an artificial life-support system that tricks them into believing the host is still alive, but at best, that would only sustain them until their natural lifespan runs out."

Under normal circumstances, that would be a few weeks at most—if they were lucky. But given Extremis' volatility, he wouldn't be surprised if that estimate turned out to be wrong.

"Fine, it's better than nothing. I'll leave it in your hands, then."

He already had some experiments and tests in mind to make the most of the blood, and it was best to start while it was still fresh.

"I know that look in your eyes. It's very similar to the one my husband had when he found something that interested him," Lara said, as if recalling the past. But she quickly shook her head to clear those thoughts. Even if she had the memories, she knew it wasn't truly her past, and dwelling on it was pointless.

"I don't care how you spend your time, but I think there's something you need to do first."

With her reminder, an image of a blonde woman flashed in Daniel's mind, and he finally remembered why he had come to the fortress in the first place.

"Of course! It's not like I was postponing it or anything," he tried to defend himself, but from the flat look she was giving him, she clearly wasn't buying it.

"Alright, alright! I'll let you run the initial tests, just save some for me, okay?"

She huffed but nodded nonetheless.

With the agreement settled, Daniel soon made his way to the area where Harleen was.

Looking at her, asleep and floating inside the immersion chamber, he couldn't help but feel a bit nervous. At least she wasn't naked—at some point, Lara had removed her ruined clothing and dressed her in a full-body suit, white with blue lines, clinging to her like a second skin.

'Alright, no more delays.'

Moving to the control panel, he began draining the liquid inside. Then, he opened the chamber, watching as Harleen's body stumbled slightly forward.

He quickly stretched out his hand, placing it on one of her shoulders to steady her. Then, he saw how her eyelashes fluttered and her eyes, now a bright violet hue, met his gaze.

"W-what happened?" she asked as she tried to regain her balance and took a step out of the immersion chamber. Daniel, of course, helped her out and kept her on her feet.

"Take it easy and try to remember."

At his words, she closed her eyes for a moment, letting her hazy memories begin to clear.

"So, I'm not dead, huh? I guess everything went well." A sigh of relief escaped her lips.

"Actually, your body is in the best possible state of health," Daniel said.

Only now did Harleen realize that, aside from the initial dizziness and confusion, she felt pretty good—too good, in fact. All those little aches and pains that had once plagued her seemed to have vanished. Looking down at herself, she even noticed that a small scar she'd had on her right hand since childhood was gone, leaving only smooth, unblemished pale skin.

All of this, of course, was thanks to the immersion chamber.

"It seems I need a bit of sun," She had never been this pale before, even though her skin had always been fair to begin with.

"Yeah, about that... a simple tan probably won't fix it."

The change in her pigmentation had occurred due to the alterations her body had undergone from the chemicals. Essentially, her natural color had been "burned away" until only this new tone remained.

Even the immersion chamber couldn't reverse it, making it clear that this was a deep, fundamental change in her DNA.

Soon, Daniel brought her a couple of towels he had prepared and let her dry off while he looked away. Once he thought she was done, he turned around, took a set of clothes he had brought for her, and handed them over.

"Uh, I thought about bringing you some of your clothes, but I couldn't get them, so I made some for you."

Harleen blinked, not fully understanding his words. He knew where her apartment was, and he knew how to get inside. So why couldn't he bring her clothes? Seeing him avoid her gaze, she couldn't help but grow suspicious.

"Daniel, what happened to my clothes?"

Well, they had finally reached this point. Daniel sighed a little, and in an attempt to soften the blow, he placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

"Well... you might not have an apartment anymore."

There was a brief silence before Harleen scoffed and grinned.

"You know I like your jokes, but this one's a bit cruel."

When he didn't laugh, her smile began to fade.

"But don't worry! I handled everything for you. The insurance companies have been a bit troublesome these days, but I managed to get a full refund, so you have enough capital to get another one."

Of course, he had needed a bit of Lara's help to get into some private systems and modify certain documents, but in the end, everything had turned out fine.

Harleen didn't seem to see it that way, though, because her face was still frozen in shock.

"D-Did I lose my apartment?!" she finally reacted.

"But you'll be able to buy another one!"

"That's not the point here! How?! How did this even happen?!"

Seeing her state, Daniel took the clothes from her hands, set them aside, and helped her settle down next to him in a quiet corner of the room. Then, he began to explain everything that had happened up to that point in detail.

Finding out that not only had she lost her apartment but that, essentially, the place where she worked had also been destroyed—and therefore, she no longer had a job—caused Harleen to start having a small panic episode.

Fortunately, he managed to calm her down.

Of course, there was much more to this than just losing her home and job. Harleen still had the deaths of her friends fresh in her mind, as well as the fact that she had killed their murderer shortly afterward.

Maybe she no longer had physical wounds, but the mental wounds were still there.

Stroking her long, platinum blonde hair, Daniel let out a small sigh as he felt her sobbing in his arms. He never liked seeing others cry—not because it bothered him, but because it made him feel bad.

He wanted to say something, to console her in some way, but no word seemed appropriate, so he could only remain by her side, hoping that it would be enough.

Finally, after some time, her sobs ceased, and she simply stayed in his arms without saying much.

"Sorry, I got your suit all messy." She tried to wipe away the tear stains that had fallen on him, but without much success.

"Don't apologize. I don't mind." He really didn't. After all, tears were much easier to clean than blood.

Feeling much calmer, Harleen decided not to keep lamenting and instead tried to distract herself by looking around with curiosity. When she first arrived at the fortress, she hadn't been able to properly take in the place, so she took this moment to do so, surprised by how beautiful the crystalline structures were, seeming to reflect the light in mysterious ways.

"This place is incredible. Is it your base?"

"Well, something like that. Actually, it's Carol's place. I just use it from time to time," Daniel admitted, seeing no need to lie.

"Carol... You never told me you had a sister."

Daniel understood why she had assumed that kind of relationship between them, but he needed to clarify before any misunderstanding arose.

"Because I don't have one. We... we're just similar that's all."

He couldn't tell her about the Kryptonians—that was Carol's secret, and only she could share it.

"That's very confusing. So, are you two together or something? Like a couple arriving in a new place?"

Harleen remembered that Carol hadn't denied being an alien, and neither had Daniel, so her assumption was logical.

"No, we're more like friends, close friends." Somehow, Harleen felt that the girl she had met wouldn't be very happy with that answer, but she didn't have enough mental energy to worry about her.

Cuddling closer to Daniel, she inhaled his scent and relaxed against his chest.

"I'd like to stay like this longer, but I know I can't. I still need to find a new apartment—damn it, I really liked mine," she complained a little, already dreading the headache it would be to find another one up to the standard of the one she had lost and at a similar enough price.

"Yeah, well, about that... you might have to stay a little longer. There's still something I haven't told you."

At his words, she blinked and lifted her head to meet his gaze.

"What's wrong?"

"Do you remember my research on the X-gene?"

Of course, she did—she had been there to see him conduct it, after all, even offering some ideas from time to time.

Seeing her nod, Daniel continued, "Well, due to the high stress your body was subjected to because of the chemicals, the dormant X-gene inside you has awakened."

What that meant didn't need explaining—she already knew.

Harleen remained silent once more before glancing down at herself for a few moments.

"Well, I don't feel very different. Are you sure it's active?"

"No doubt, I've verified it dozens of times. I just don't know what kind of changes it might have caused. I have some theories based on the chemicals and pheromones that were in you when it happened, but to find out, we need to experiment a little."

Harleen didn't know exactly how to feel right now, but she didn't want to keep frustrating herself. She'd had enough of tears, so she decided to focus on the positive—meaning, she should have… superpowers? Yes, that was the right term, and that was definitely incredible.

Being special was a wish that had lingered deep inside her for a long time, and now it seemed to have come true, even if the cost had been too high.

Now she just needed to know what kind of powers they were. She hoped they were something cool, or she might really start crying again.

'I should try,' she thought. She didn't know exactly how, but she wanted to see it, feel it. So she closed her eyes and tried to find something, anything.

It wasn't easy because there didn't seem to be any kind of mystical energy or anything similar waiting to be tapped into inside her. Maybe using those old comics she read as a child as a reference wasn't the best idea.

'Come on! Please, give me something!'

And as if responding to her plea, she felt a tingling shiver run through her entire body.

But that was it. Opening her eyes again, she stared at her hands, a vacant look in her gaze.

If her superpower was giving herself chills, then it was the stupidest power in the universe.

Seeing her expression grow more melancholic, Daniel decided to step in and offer some guidance.

"Maybe you'd like to know that when both chemicals were fighting inside you, the Joker Venom was ultimately subdued by the artificial pheromones you created, leaving the latter as the dominant force between them, which then merged with the newly awakened X-gene in your body." He hoped that would give her some kind of direction or idea.

Harleen, who had seemed a bit lost until now, regained clarity upon hearing that.

'No, it can't be that simple. There must… there must be something more.' At first, she thought that maybe she could replicate the effects of her obedience serum without actually needing the serum. But if that were the case, then she hadn't gained anything from this—after all, she already knew how to make the serum and could keep producing more if she ever needed it.

Thinking about all the examples she had of the X-gene in action—which weren't many, but still enough—she knew that the impossible should be possible. That thing didn't even respect the laws of physics in the first place!

With that in mind, she decided she needed to try doing the impossible.

Standing up, Harleen positioned herself in front of Daniel with some nervousness.

"I'm going to try something," she said, but without explaining much.

Daniel raised an eyebrow but didn't ask and decided to wait to see what would happen.

'Alright, so the obedience serum merged with the X-gene. That should have influenced something, although I still don't know exactly what, but if I base myself on what I already know about the serum, then...'

She needed to be bold. Even if it didn't work and she ended up embarrassing herself a little, it didn't matter.

Taking a long breath, she closed her eyes and reached once again for that tingling sensation she had felt inside before and Holding onto it firmly between her 'hands,' she gave a order.

"I can fly!"

The room fell silent. Harleen opened her eyes, meeting Daniel's gaze. Neither of them said anything, and she felt her face begin to heat up.

But then, it happened.

"Eh?"

It was like a sudden weightlessness taking over her entire body, and before she could even begin to understand what was happening, her feet left the crystal-clear floor.

She could fly!

"Ha—hahaha!" Harleen started laughing and grinning with pure joy, and Daniel couldn't help but be infected by her happiness. But soon, the laughter stopped when Harleen crashed into the ceiling of the room.

She tried to move, like she had seen Daniel do a few times, but all she managed to do was make her body move erratically, as if she were in a zero-gravity environment, completely out of her control.

"I need a little help here..." It seemed this wasn't going to be so easy. Even so, the joy flooding her wasn't something that would fade anytime soon.

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Important Note:

And another chapter! I hope you liked it, and for those who have doubts, I think I'll explain a bit about how Harleen's new powers work.

To make it a little easier to understand, think of it as something similar to -New Order- from -MHA-, but different.

One of the main and most important differences is that Harleen can only give commands (orders) to herself and to what her body can perceive and touch directly. In other words, she cannot alter things at a distance or on a large scale.

Think of it as reality manipulation at a -microscale- 

She can reorganize atoms and molecules at will, giving her the ability to modify matter, heal wounds instantly, or even transform objects into something completely different.

For example, if she commands herself to -"repair this broken object,"- her power will automatically rearrange the atoms of the object (while she holds it) to restore it to its original state. Or if she commands -"become stronger,"- her body will reconfigure her muscles and tissues to maximize her physical strength even beyond the human..

But even though it sounds very powerful, it is not without limitations. As I mentioned before, she can only affect herself and what she can -perceive/touch directly- 

Additionally, for the power to function optimally, she must understand -how- the command (order) is carried out at a scientific level and have a clear mental image of it. That is, she must clearly visualize the desired result and keep that image in her mind, as well as understand the physical, chemical, or biological processes involved so that her power can execute the command correctly.

If she doesn't do it properly, the command could fail or, alternatively, be fulfilled in a -"strange"- way.

What happened at the end of this episode is a good example. She wanted to fly, but when she gave the command, she didn't think about everything that entailed beyond just making her body float in the air. As a result, her power simply made gravity stop interacting with her physical being. Even though this wasn't exactly what Harleen wanted, but since it still counted as "flight" in her mind, her power considered the command successfully fulfilled.

(This is also why it took a little time and wasn't instantaneous. That is, the speed at which commands are carried out is also affected by what was mentioned earlier.)

So, there is a factor of randomness included if Harleen isn't completely clear about what she wants and how she wants it to happen.

Now, another "disadvantage" is that she -cannot give unlimited commands-. Each command consumes some of her -mental power-, depending on how complex it is and how long it lasts. She can make some commands permanent, but as long as they remain active, they will continue to drain her energy, potentially causing -mental fatigue- if she isn't careful.

With the -mental factor- included, it should already be clear that she -cannot- force commands onto other objects (external to her body) if those objects have -enough willpower- to resist.

This means she can give commands to -inanimate- things (if she understands their atomic structure and physical composition). But if she tries to do the same with another human or a sufficiently self-aware animal (a living being), a -battle of wills- will begin. Where if Harleen manages to impose her will over the other's will, she will be able to use her power on them.

However, if she -fails-, she will -waste a large amount of mental energy-, nearly exhausting herself, and the command will fail.

I think I've covered everything I needed to say. Of course, neither Harleen nor Daniel know all of this yet; they'll have to discover it over time. Plus, I may explain it better in future chapters in case anything wasn't entirely clear.

Still, if you have any questions, don't hesitate to comment, and I'll answer as best as I can!

Remember that You can already find the next chapter of this story on Patreon ( patreon.com/EmmaCruzader ) All the support received is appreciated ;D