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Still Defiant! SI [Marvel/DC] 53: Questioning
🕑 Added 2024-12-28 05:32:38 +0000 UTC53: Questioning
"Sir, The commissioner Stacy is at the reception and wants to speak with you. It seems he’s asking for your statement about what happened."
Tony, who was applying cream to treat the burns on his body, grimaced at hearing Jarvis's voice. He then turned and saw one of the projected screens showing the image of several police cars surrounding his building.
"Tell him I have nothing to declare and let Pepper handle it later." She wouldn’t be very happy about it, but Tony had no desire to deal with the police at the moment.
“You won’t earn any good reviews from the police department if you don’t at least try to cooperate with them, you know?” Daniel said, landing through one of the large holes in the ceiling and standing not far from Tony.
The man looked a bit battered, though not excessively so. Perhaps the most noticeable signs were the reddish handprint-shaped marks on his chest and arms—burns that could have been worse but fortunately weren’t.
“Tch, look who’s talking. As far as I know, your interactions with them have left much to be desired.” That was true, and Daniel could only shrug in response.
“The difference is that my identity isn’t public. They can make things difficult for you. Me? They can only curse under their breath during lunch while eating donuts.”
Oh, Daniel knew the police weren’t particularly enthusiastic about his existence, but it wasn’t something that really bothered him. He’d said it before and would keep saying it in the future: politics and bureaucracy were two things he preferred to ignore as much as possible—and he could make that "possible" very extensive.
“I think I have enough experience dealing with those guys to know how annoying they can be,” Tony replied in a slightly disdainful tone.
Well, in that, he was right. Daniel then decided to let Tony handle it and didn’t interfere any further. If he got into trouble later because of his attitude, they’d figure out a way to get him out of it.
Future problems for future Daniel. At this point, he considered putting the phrase in a frame and hanging it in his future secret base.
Soon, Tony finished treating his burns, and the sound of turbines grew louder in the sky.
Of course, it was no surprise to either of them to see a Quinjet approaching and parking near one of the holes in the building, with a ramp extending from its rear.
Daniel raised his hand in greeting to Natasha and to Nick Fury, who was walking near her with the help of a cane.
Beside him was a third person whom Daniel vaguely recognized as Agent Phil Coulson. He simply nodded at the man in a simple greeting, which was reciprocated.
Once the three disembarked, the Quinjet took off again, likely to land somewhere nearby.
"What happened?" Fury asked without beating around the bush as his single eye surveyed the destruction of the place.
"How cold, not even a 'how are you?'"
"Cut the cheap dramatics, Stark. I'm the one using a cane here," the man replied, gripping the handle to emphasize his point, making his leather gloves creak.
"You're not the one who was attacked in his own home!" Tony retorted, letting the anger still simmering within him show, though he had been keeping it under control... for the most part.
"Alright, calm down. Fighting won't help anyone right now," Daniel said, looking at them with disapproval. Tony merely huffed and crossed his arms, while Fury narrowed his one eye.
"Jarvis, if you can, give us a recap of the events. If you have visuals, even better," Daniel said, and the AI quickly obeyed, projecting a screen and beginning to recount parts of the incident from its perspective. Tony occasionally added his own comments.
"It all ended when that damn portal opened and killed the last of them."
"I never thought technology like this actually existed on Earth," Natasha couldn't help but comment as she watched the footage captured by Tony's suit.
She had seen many strange things throughout her life, and this was definitely making its way to the top—an increasingly difficult feat these days.
"It's not impossible. Stark isn't the only genius in the world. What we should really be asking is how the Ten Rings got access to something like this without anyone noticing," Fury remarked, his tone laced with evident concern.
The director of S.H.I.E.L.D. already knew the terrorist organization was far more dangerous than he had ever imagined. What happened with Stane and the recent attack on Stark were just further proof, making it clear that dealing with them wouldn't be as straightforward as he'd once hoped.
"Assuming it's technological might be a bit hasty, don't you think? What about magic?" Daniel's words made everyone turn to him with raised eyebrows—Tony, in particular, wore an expression that clearly read, 'Are you serious?' almost offended.
Fury considered it for a moment before nodding.
"It's not impossible."
Tony muttered under his breath, giving them both an incredulous look, as if he couldn't believe they were even considering it seriously.
"It doesn't make sense to theorize about something we have so little information on. For now, what interests me most is how their men have been enhanced. It's clear they're more than just human, and the heat they emit is just as unnatural as the way their wounds regenerate," Daniel said, pointing at an image where one of them regrew an entire arm after Tony had blown it off with one of his repulsor blasts.
"Do you think it could be related to the M-Gene?" Natasha asked, recalling the research into the genetic anomalies that had been appearing more frequently around the world these days.
"No, the M-Gene is more random, chaotic. This is far too uniform. They all share the same set of abilities. If I had to guess, this is artificial empowerment, like that super-soldier serum from World War II."
"Are you saying the Ten Rings have an army of super-soldiers?" The thought that a terrorist organization had accomplished what all the world's governments couldn't in years was far from comforting for Fury.
"Even if it's hard to believe, all the evidence points to that. But estimating the exact number of their empowered soldiers is difficult since we don't know how complicated the process is. What we do know is that they're not exactly indispensable," Daniel said, gesturing toward the recording where the sword emerging from the portal impaled the last surviving member of the Ten Rings.
With a portal, saving that man would have been easy, but instead, they chose to kill him without a second thought, making it clear that his value to them wasn’t particularly high.
"Of course, it's all speculation. Perhaps if I had a blood sample, I could conduct a deeper analysis and get some answers that would tell us whether these are truly super-soldiers or something else."
"Well, then you're in luck that I'm a genius and anticipated such a need," Tony said with a triumphant smile on his face. He gestured toward the Mark 3, which was resting not far away. The suit powered up and, moving on its own, raised one of its arms. A compartment on its side opened, revealing a vial inside.
Since Daniel had asked for his help in dealing with the monsters, Tony had thought that taking biological samples would become important over time, so he had incorporated a way to do so into his armor. It seemed that once again, his foresight had hit the mark.
Tony took the vial in his hand, staring at the blood inside that seemed to almost glow, then tossed it to Daniel, who caught it effortlessly.
Although Tony had considered running the tests himself, it was clear to the billionaire that Daniel, who knew more about genetics than anyone else among them, was the better choice to handle it.
“I suppose you don’t have another one lying around, do you?” Fury asked, slightly hopeful, but Tony shook his head, crushing that small hope in an instant.
“I thought I’d get more out of the prisoner, and you know how that turned out.”
Daniel tucked the vial into his tool belt and turned to Fury with a smile.
“Don’t worry too much, Fury. I’ll get all the results we need in no time.”
Fury sighed, grudgingly accepting it. Clearly, the man wanted his own scientists to analyze the sample, but that wasn’t something likely to happen anytime soon.
"Alright, I’ll count on you for that. On another note, we still need to discuss the actions we can take as countermeasures against the Ten Rings. I thought they would keep their heads down after their plan with Stane failed, but this incident clearly shows otherwise. If they’re so desperate for Stark’s technology, they must be planning something big, and we need to stop it at all costs."
This threat had already escalated to a point where Fury wasn’t sure if S.H.I.E.L.D. could handle it alone, so he could only look for a solution with Daniel and Tony.
“Isn’t it simple? We just have to kick their asses,” Tony said, dismissing Fury’s concern. Then he narrowed his eyes and added in a grave voice, “Since they want my technology so badly, they’re invited to try and take it. And when they come, I’ll be ready.”
“You’re suggesting being the bait?” Natasha asked, raising an eyebrow.
“Is there another option? S.H.I.E.L.D. has had them in its sights for years, and clearly, that hasn’t achieved much—or am I wrong? Because this would be a good time to tell me if you know where they are.”
Fury didn’t like the mocking tone in Tony’s voice, but he couldn’t argue back because he was right. Despite knowing about the existence of the Ten Rings for years, S.H.I.E.L.D. hadn’t managed to uncover much about the organization—at least not the real one. The Middle Eastern branch was clearly just a front, which had been exposed when Tony and Daniel destroyed all their bases in Afghanistan.
"Actually, Tony’s idea isn’t entirely bad. They’ve already shown they don’t mind attacking him publicly, and I don’t think they’ll stop now that they’ve come this far. On the other hand, it’s not like we have any leads on where to look for them, right? They could be anywhere in the world thanks to their ability to create portals—even in completely inaccessible places," or another dimension, though Daniel didn’t say that aloud since even to him, it seemed unlikely, though not impossible.
Whatever the case, for now, they could only stay on the defensive until the Ten Rings resurfaced, and maybe then they could gain another clue about what they were plotting.
Searching blindly would only be a waste of time that none of them could afford.
“You heard him, Fury. For now, let me handle this and use your free time to clean up your own mess.”
Tony’s comment clearly didn’t sit well with the shield director , who frowned and glared at him with anger.
“What do you mean, Stark?”
“I mean you still haven’t explained why one of your scientists nearly destroyed the entire East Coast. What? Did you think I forgot about that? Because I haven’t. And if you don’t clear things up, we might have a problem.”
Tony had done some digging since the incident with Graviton, and while he hadn’t uncovered everything—mainly due to a lack of time—it wasn’t hard for him to identify the man responsible. A man who had disappeared for ten years and had been working for S.H.I.E.L.D. when it happened.
“Do you really want to talk about that right now?” Fury was clearly not happy with the sudden questioning.
“Actually, he has a point,” Daniel said, looking at Fury, though not as harshly as Tony. “While I don’t particularly care about what S.H.I.E.L.D. does in its private matters, I think it would be good if you informed us whether incidents like this might happen again.”
Fury remained silent for a moment, clear irritation etched on his face, but he eventually sighed, and like a deflating balloon, his shoulders sagged slightly before he began explaining how Franklin Hall had come to work for him and the project he had been in charge of.
"I didn’t stop Hall when I should have, and that’s on me. But I assure you, something like this won’t happen again," he finished seriously, looking at the two men in front of him, prepared to further defend his case. But to his surprise, both seemed to accept his explanation without much issue.
In the end, Tony only wanted a clear and direct explanation of the whole matter, and Daniel just wanted to fill in the gaps in his memory to see if he could recall anything else that might be useful in the future.
There were a few things, but nothing truly noteworthy, which was disappointing but expected.
If recovering his important memories were so easy, he would’ve had them all back by now.
With that resolved, they discussed further how Tony would draw the Ten Rings’ attention. Once he explained his plan, Daniel scoffed, Natasha rolled her eyes, and Fury simply shook his head.
Agent Phil Coulson, for his part, was the one who voiced his thoughts aloud, speaking for the first time since the meeting began.
“You must be joking. Do you really think something like that will work?”
Tony, who seemed to finally acknowledge his existence, looked at him with amusement and slight smugness.
“Agent Filips, I almost forgot you were here.”
Coulson opened and closed his mouth like a fish out of water, slightly offended by the mispronunciation of his name and unsure whether to correct him or not.
“Your doubt is a little offensive, but I’ll let it slide this time. Just wait and see. I’ll have those idiots crawling out of their hideout sooner or later,” the billionaire assured with full confidence.
“Setting aside Tony’s questionable plan, I think there’s another matter we need to discuss,” Daniel interrupted, deciding to give Coulson a break and steer the conversation toward topics he considered more important.
“There are plenty of matters to discuss, but…” Fury looked around once more before continuing, “we might need to change locations.”
.
.
.
In the end, they didn’t move very far. After Fury made sure the police surrounding the area left, everyone descended to one of the better-preserved lower floors, where they finally found some suitable seating.
For a “secret” meeting meant to safeguard the world, the setting certainly lacked the proper atmosphere. From an outsider’s perspective, knowing nothing about them, their group might seem, at best, a little strange. But those who truly knew their identities wouldn’t dare to comment on it.
Of all of them, Daniel felt the most self-conscious. After all, it wasn’t easy getting used to wearing a costume when no one else did. It almost felt like one of those dreams where you find yourself naked in the middle of class—only this was real. Still, he didn’t let it show outwardly, acting as ‘calmly’ as he always did.
Being the world’s first hero wasn’t easy, and Daniel could only hope things would improve when more people, besides him, started wearing their own costumes to meetings like this.
"It seems there’s nothing new on this front, huh?" Daniel said, glancing over the results S.H.I.E.L.D.’s scientists had obtained after several days of experimenting with Jarol, the monster Daniel had defeated and handed over to S.H.I.E.L.D. for independent study.
Even though he already knew they wouldn’t uncover much, he had harbored a faint hope that one of them might see or find something that neither he nor Lara had been able to. Clearly, that hope was just an illusion, as they had all hit the same wall, and the results were even lacking in certain areas.
Earth’s technology was still far from being sufficient for this kind of research.
“S.H.I.E.L.D. has managed to capture a few other monsters that have appeared around the world. Their mutations are clearly less severe, but they still exhibit the same characteristics. We thought maybe we’d get better results from them due to their greater retention of ‘humanity,’ but we were wrong,” Natasha said, handing him some additional reports and data.
Daniel took them and quickly scanned through the contents.
He already knew that more monsters would start appearing in greater numbers as time went on. It was something he had been dealing with during his patrols around the world these days. Of course, not all of them were real threats. Many were only slightly better than average humans, though with grotesque appearances and behaviors. Some displayed interesting abilities, but nothing truly remarkable.
Well-trained teams with the proper weapons and equipment could not only kill them but also incapacitate them to capture them without many problems. S.H.I.E.L.D. had started collecting several of them for their tests, but judging by the data they presented to him, this hadn’t brought many benefits to the research, aside from knowing that they all originated from the same ‘genetic anomaly,’ that is, the M Gene.
Cases like Jarol, Greg, and the leader of the Ten Rings in Afghanistan, Raza, were special in a certain sense due to their abnormal, great power, and Daniel still didn’t know exactly why. In addition, of course, to external factors beyond the M Gene, such as the X Gene or foreign substances like kryptonite—things that, so far, had only been present in one of the three 'important' cases, meaning they couldn’t really be taken into consideration, but also couldn’t be completely dismissed.
Without a doubt, if an individual who possessed both the M Gene and the X Gene awakened one of these two, its influence would eventually awaken the other, and the result would undoubtedly be, at best, disastrous.
For now, there hadn’t been another case besides Greg’s, but Daniel knew that sooner or later it would happen, and many lives would be lost if it wasn’t dealt with quickly.
Another reason to find a way to ‘destroy’ or ‘neutralize’ the M Gene in the portion of the human population that carried it.
"It doesn't seem like we'll solve this problem anytime soon, and although S.H.I.E.L.D. has managed to capture some of them, the facilities where we're holding them are barely able to continue containing them," Fury said, then pulled out a folder with the codename "Tartarus" written on its cover.
"That's why I've spoken with the members of the World Council, and they've finally decided to give me all the financial support necessary to build a new prison designed for 'special' individuals. I'd like you to take a look at it." Of course, it goes without saying that the whole incident with Graviton greatly helped his case. Naturally, Fury hadn't been foolish enough to admit it was S.H.I.E.L.D.'s fault. It was one thing for Daniel and Tony to know, as well as his trusted agents, but the Council? That wasn't necessary.
"You really like dramatic names, don't you?" Tony commented with amusement. He then picked up the folder, letting Jarvis scan its contents before projecting it onto a series of holographic screens in front of him and Daniel.
The design was certainly ambitious, and the security measures proposed undoubtedly surpassed those of any other prison on Earth. Fury had even included a lot of advanced technology that was usually kept under lock and key. It was obvious the man wasn't planning to cut any corners on this.
"I'll say this: your design isn't bad, but it could be better. Give me two days, and I'll give you something that's at least five steps ahead," Tony declared matter-of-factly. No one in the room doubted his words, even if they sounded arrogant. The billionaire had already been toying with ideas for a prison since Fury first brought it up a while ago, and it seemed it was time to put those ideas 'on paper.'
"Additionally, Stark Industries will publicly fund 45% of the expenses." That, of course, made Fury furrow his brow.
"What are you trying to pull, Stark?" he asked, eyeing him suspiciously. Tony simply shrugged.
"Don't take it the wrong way, Fury, but I don't trust your 'governments' to run the place cleanly. If you want my help and my technology, you have to let me get involved in this. Otherwise, you can do it on your own. Your choice."
It was in moments like this that Daniel truly envied the power of 'money.' If he had enough capital, he would undoubtedly have stepped forward in the same way, but unfortunately, his bank accounts were still far too short.
'Maybe it's time to start accelerating my corporate plans,' he thought, watching Fury's face turn red, then dark purple, and almost green.
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Note:
This chapter was slightly delayed due to some management issues (plus the holiday celebrations, haha).
You’ve probably noticed there are still things left to address, but those will be tackled in the next chapter. Writing chapters that are too long tends to increase the time it takes me to translate and edit them. I feel like it’s already been a long wait, so I can only split things up to avoid it becoming overwhelming. But don’t worry—the next chapter should arrive faster since it’s mostly finished already.
On the other hand, I might delay it a bit. It’s almost the end of the year, and I want to release a few other things besides 'Still Defiant' but time feels too short. I’m not sure how much I’ll be able to do (since I haven’t managed to get any vacation from work this month), but I’ll do my best.
Anyway, remember to leave a comment, and if you notice any mistakes, don’t hesitate to point them out!
Comments
Z-borb
Cool! Thank you!
EmmaCruzader
I actually upload it to many sites so you can use the one you prefer (webnovel, space battles, questionable questing, sufficient Velocity, fanfiction, Wattpad, ao3, scribblehub, royalroad) for now I'll put the fanfiction link but you can find it on all the other sites mentioned above ;D https://m.fanfiction.net/s/14297402/1/Still-Defiant-SI-Marvel-DC
Z-borb
How do I find the first 16 chapters of this story?
Oceanus Thetitan
That would be your preference ,i dont for one
FAYSAI XV
Hey wouldn’t it be a good idea to cancel all your other fanFictions and start working still defiant exclusively?
EmmaCruzader
That will happen soon, I haven't forgotten about her, don't worry ;D
Luis Z
When are we gonna deal with Harley she been in stasis for to long
Asura
Thanks for the chapter👋
genny
👍
Jaylon Cain
Perfect chapter
