9: One more day

9: One more day

Note: Important to read!

Author's Status Update 2024

It's been a while, hasn't it?

There are many questions, and I don't want to fill this with text complaining, so I'll respond as concisely as I can.

I had a lot written, over ten chapters of this, all drafts of course that needed to be properly edited and translated, but they were a foundation from which I could consistently release chapters with a set path.

Not just for this story but for all my other stories.

What happened?

I was assaulted...

They took my cards, my ID, my phone...

Do you know where I write and store everything? That's right, on my phone.

So I lost everything.

All the progress I had made, all my notes and plans, all the chapters already written.

And if that wasn't enough, they used my cards, which I couldn't deactivate quickly because I didn't have a phone.

Whoever decided that cards can only be easily deactivated using a cell phone and not a computer...

I wish death upon you!

So, I got robbed, indebted, and lost everything I had written.

2024 started badly, but I'm already recovering!

In the end, I Still standing, hahaha. Still Defiant, you understand?! It probably sounds stupid.

The desire to write died for a while, my memory is not perfect, so rewriting everything and re-noting the ideas and plans I had already decided frankly didn't appeal to me.

Adding up all my other problems...

Yeah... I didn't want to write.

But now I want to.

Writing should be something I enjoy and relax with. I can't go back and recover what I lost, so I'll have to start from what I had. I'll still use several of the ideas I remember and come up with new ones. Fortunately, there's an earlier version of this that has (poorly written) several of the ideas I liked.

I'll have to go over everything, create a new path, improve the things I did wrong, and add new ones.

For that reason, Chapter 9 has been rewritten almost entirely, removing several things that will either be postponed or not used in the short term.

I know this is tedious, but believe me, I didn't want it to be this way, but I don't have the ability to go back in time (yet), so we'll have to live with what we have.

So, we'll take a different path. I want to enjoy writing this, and I want to write it with the best quality I can offer.

Honestly, I had several plans that I don't remember well (that's why I made notes). My memory isn't perfect, and I feel that if I continue with those plans, just relying on what little I remember, it will result in poor writing.

That's why Chapter 9 will be changed. Maybe the beginning of the chapter won't have many changes, but it will definitely have several changes after that.

So, I suggest you read it, if you still want to accompany me on this journey.

This doesn't mean that I completely discard everything already written in that chapter; it just means that I'll approach it differently and in different chapters.

With that said, I wish you all a Happy New Year, and may luck smile upon you more than it has on me.

I leave you with the new and rewritten Chapter 9. Tell me what you think, and as always, I'll be reading your feedback.

(My other fics are in a similar or worse situation since at least this one had a previous version, but the others didn't, hahaha.)

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9: One more day

February 10, 2007

"The storm clouds loom over Central City, heavy rains are expected in the following days-"

"The multi-millionaire Lionel Luthor has died unexpectedly, authorities have not yet specified the cause of death but his death has left Luthor Corp in great uncertainty. His children, Alexander Luthor and the young Lena Luthor, have begun to assume the company's leadership, and analysts believe this could be the beginning of a power struggle between the two heirs. Nevertheless, shareholders show strong support for Alexander Luthor-"

"Oscorp has started new contracts with the United States Army-"

"The famous asylum for criminals in Gotham City will be demolished-"

"The Air Force pilot, Hal Jordan, is missing. During last week's test exercises-"

"Pym Technologies in crisis, the young and new CEO, Darren Cross, promises-"

The news reports sounded along with the music, which flooded the workshop with its rhythmic sounds, creating a chaos of sounds that would be difficult for a normal person to listen to. Working at his desk, Daniel moved his head to the rhythm of the musical notes while his hands carefully manipulated a piece of technology as if this cacophony of sounds didn't bother him at all.

He had been studying a lot these days. At first, the topics were focused on aspects that would help him build and improve his printer.

Now he had expanded a bit.

Learning was fun when you were good at it and your progress was visible at first sight.

He had even started to learn some extra languages, although he still needed to speak with native speakers to be able to speak them correctly.

What he could find in nearby libraries would soon become useless.

And although the internet was vast, it still didn't contain as much information as it would several years later.

"Maybe I should take a second trip around the world? A study trip?"

There were many places with valuable information from which he could learn a lot.

Perhaps he would need to visit them at some point.

He stood up and stretched his body. He wasn't tired, but some habits tend to stick. He looked at the clock on the desk and smiled.

"it's hero time!"

He always wanted to say that.

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The sound of sirens flooded the streets of New York, causing panic among the people. A high-speed pursuit was taking place.

Patrol cars accelerated, chasing a white car. The sound of gunfire was clear in the air, causing nearby people to run for cover. Some even considered pulling out their own weapons, but that impulse faded when they heard the police sirens.

Projectiles were fired from the fleeing car. Inside, four men with dark masks and weapons looked around in panic. More and more patrol cars joined the pursuit, and they could even hear the sound of helicopter blades in the sky.

"Shit!" cursed the driver, pressing the accelerator even harder.

The other three aimed their weapons at their pursuers and continued firing.

In the skies, a police helicopter assisted in the pursuit, and not far from it, a news helicopter followed.

The scene of the pursuit was being broadcast live on the news.

At an intersection.

A mother and her daughter, no more than 6 years old, began to cross the street, the sound of sirens and gunfire barely starting to reach their location, drowned out by the bustling noise of the city.

Because of this, the woman couldn't react in time when the white car made a sharp turn at high speed in their direction.

The woman opened her eyes to see the car approaching her and her daughter at full speed, but there was nothing she could do to avoid it. Her body hadn't even begun to move, and the car was already a meter away from hitting them.

This scene was witnessed by everyone around with horror. On a busy street in New York, it was difficult for people to miss something like this.

The screams had just begun to sound, and in the skies, the helicopter camera focused, and the cameraman could barely begin to open his eyes in horror as he realized what was about to happen.

But the expected scene did not happen. Like a blur, a figure stood in front of the mother and the girl.

The sound of twisting metal filled the air, and with both hands, Defiant firmly held the car, stopping its acceleration abruptly. The front of the car crumpled like paper against his body, and the occupants were shaken violently.

Defiant held the car and lifted it slightly in the air to prevent it from crushing completely, saving the occupants from becoming minced meat.

As if he didn't feel the weight of the car, he turned to look at the woman holding her daughter in her arms, still with a pale face.

"Are you okay?" his voice was clear, and his question seemed to have brought the woman out of shock. She nodded quickly, unable to form words correctly. The rapid sequence of events was still processing in her mind, but her body acted quickly. She lifted her daughter in her arms and ran towards the crowd of people, not hesitating.

The girl in her arms looked with bright eyes and waved her little hand to the hero as she was carried by her mother.

Defiant gave her a small smile that made the girl smile even wider.

Then he let go of the vehicle, causing it to fall heavily to the ground, shaking the criminals inside even more.

"D-Damn" the car's driver cursed and opened the door, stepping out shakily and almost falling to the ground, his vision spinning.

Defiant approached him, and the man opened his eyes in panic at the sight of him. Without hesitation, he raised the gun in his hand and began firing at point-blank range.

The sound of the bullets impacting his body made Daniel raise an eyebrow, and he quickly closed the distance to avoid a stray shot.

After all, there was a crowd.

He took the gun and with a light squeeze, destroyed it. His other hand grabbed the criminal by the neck and lifted him into the air.

"You know, this would have been a big disaster if I hadn't arrived in time. Fortunately for you, I did. So I advise you to lower your weapons and come in peace. It will be less painful that way" he said loudly enough for the other three criminals, who were already getting out of the car, to hear him.

In response to his friendly advice, one of them pulled out his gun and shot directly at his eye, showing very good aim.

Silence filled the place as the bullet smashed against the hero's iris, falling to the ground without having done the slightest damage.

"I guess we'll do this the hard way then."

Faster than human perception could capture, his figure moved and he tore the guns from each of them, deforming their structure with his hands until they turned into scrap.

The criminals only felt their vision darken when a fist hit their faces hard enough to knock out several teeth.

In the skies, the news helicopter focused on the scene, and the reporter shouted to the audience.

"Defiant! It's Defiant!" Not just him, whether they were passersby at the scene or those watching the live broadcast.

They all exclaimed at seeing him appear once again, even if he had been doing so for several days already.

Soon the police arrived and began to handcuff the criminals.

Daniel made sure everything was in order before starting to rise into the sky.

But a shout stopped him.

"Wait!" the woman with her daughter approached, smiling.

"Thank you" they both said.

To their words, Daniel nodded happily and then left. There was still more to be done.

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"And those have been the day's news with the Daily Planet "

On television, criminals were seen being taken away in patrol cars. The camera quickly panned upwards, trying to focus on Defiant's back as he left the scene, but the hero was too fast. All that could be captured was the sonic boom in the sky after his departure.

Carol looked at the image and made a mental note to download the video later.

Sitting not far from her, Jonathan Kent sighed. Some fatigue could be seen in his eyes, and the beginnings of dark circles were evident on his face, stress lines making him appear several years older.

Carol was worried. Her father had always been stubborn; once an idea got into his head, even her mother had trouble convincing him otherwise.

Daniel... Defiant, was like an imaginary guillotine in her father's mind.

Carol didn't understand why. What was the problem? To her, her father was just being irrational about all this.

A normal and rational person might see the gaps and flaws in Jonathan's thinking, but a normal person had never raised an extraterrestrial or found an alien ship in their fields.

For Jonathan, the impossible ceased to exist long ago.

As a man of the land, a farmer, or even just a man, but above all, as a father, the mere idea that there might be something capable of threatening his family was unacceptable.

But what truly terrified him was that deep down he knew he couldn't do anything against Defiant or any other being like him.

It wasn't something he had suddenly realized or a fear that had arisen recently. Even before knowing of Defiant's existence, Jonathan had deep down known that he couldn't protect his daughter.

It was absurd. How could a father not protect his own daughter? In the past, that thought alone would be enough to put him in a bad mood, something perhaps only his wife could understand.

He was her father, adopted or not, it was his duty to protect her, to protect them both, but...

When your daughter lifts the tractor with one hand at the age of 4 or runs faster than a car at 5, you realize that whatever you're dealing with is beyond your capacity as a human.

Perhaps for that reason, Jonathan had been very strict with Carol. He had wanted to pretend that she wasn't different, that she was just a country girl like any other, that she could be human.

Because otherwise, how could he protect her? How could he fight against someone like Carol?

He refused to accept it, for a long time, he refused to accept that truth, but Defiant had come like a strong gust of wind, tearing away the veil he had placed over his eyes.

He couldn't protect Carol.

The middle-aged man was lost in his thoughts and deep fears, his eyes still focused on the television even though the news had changed. In his mind, the images of Defiant were still clear. How? How could he fight against something like that?

The fact that despite all his concerns, Defiant hadn't yet descended from the sky to take his daughter away didn't make him feel any better.

Beside him, Carol sighed. There were several words that died in her throat before they were expelled. Talking to her father... wasn't something she wanted to do right now. Things were still tense between them since the "revelation" of her origins.

She wasn't good with words either, or the most social, so she decided to ignore the problem for now. It was better to think about happier things.

With that, her mind drifted to recent events. Honestly, it had been a long time since she'd had such busy days, or nights actually.

A few days ago, Daniel had decided that nighttime was the ideal time for them to spend together.

In reality, this had been Carol's fault. With not many friends and farm work being easy and something that could be finished in moments, she had started to hang around Daniel's house.

The problem was that for most of the day, Daniel wasn't home.

Seeing the problem and knowing that he had offered to help her, he decided to take things seriously and start teaching her during the night.

The fact that Carol didn't need to sleep at all was a huge advantage in this.

Stopping sleeping wasn't difficult for Carol. For the most part, she did it out of habit rather than tiredness or anything similar. In fact, there were many nights where she simply stayed awake with her eyes closed, waiting for morning to come. It was boring, and escaping that boredom was something she greatly enjoyed.

Daniel's lessons were rewarding. It wasn't anything too complicated so far, and it mostly relied on Daniel's own experiences as a hero than anything else.

He mentioned that one must first master the theory before moving on to practice. Honestly, Carol didn't care too much. Just listening to him talk was enough to keep her attentive to everything he said, and the fact that his talks were about things that interested her only made it twice as easy.

Carol was suddenly brought out of her thoughts by the tap of a spoon on her head. She blinked and turned to see her mother raising an eyebrow.

"If you don't hurry, you'll miss the bus... again"

The gentle reprimand in her words didn't escape Carol's ears. She rolled her eyes and quickly stood up, grabbing her blue trench coat and draping it over her shoulders with a smooth, fluid motion, getting ready to leave.

Martha looked at her daughter and noticed the blue trench coat. It was a new garment that she had started wearing every day recently, and it wasn't until now that her curiosity was fully aroused. Where had her daughter gotten something like that?

"By the way, where did the trench coat come from?" The middle-aged woman couldn't help but reach out and touch the fabric; it felt strange. She had learned to sew since she was a child and had dealt with many types of fabric before. This one, in particular, felt different.

Carol almost pulled away when she noticed her mother touching the trench coat, but she managed to contain the impulse and responded quickly and without hesitation.

"It's a gift from Chloe" Martha raised an eyebrow; her daughter had responded too quickly. Before she could ask more, Carol approached and kissed her on the cheek before rushing out.

"See you later!"

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"Reports, how's the progress?" Fury's voice sounded impatient, filling his office.

As the director of S.H.I.E.L.D., leader of one of the world's most important organizations, and one of the best field agents humanity had to offer, there were few things that challenged his patience.

Today, his patience seemed to be constantly tested.

Fury's deputy and primary assistant, Maria Hill, sighed inwardly and with some nervousness shook her head.

"The progress has stalled, sir. Tracking him has become impossible. Even the most advanced satellites we have access to can't keep up with his flight paths, and trying to predict his trajectory has been futile. Our analysts are almost pulling their hair out over it. Frankly, his flight speed makes him unpredictable. One moment, he's putting out forest fires in Brazil, and the next, he's preventing a landslide in Mexico..."

If Fury still had hair, he would have started pulling it out of frustration.

His gaze turned to the screens in his office, different news channels from around the world. Defiant seemed to have made every country and border his backyard, and the World Council was not liking it at all.

A part of him was annoyed by the blatant violation of international laws, but a bigger part of himself had to admit a fact: Defiant was certainly committed to what he was doing. Traveling from one place to another around the world, every day for at least 8 hours, his figure could be found everywhere. As long as there was a disaster, accident, or crime, he seemed to be nearby.

And of course, the World Council was not pleased with it.

"Bunch of old fools" Fury muttered, but Maria Hill could hear him perfectly. Still, she didn't comment on it; after all, she wouldn't be Fury's deputy or primary assistant if she didn't share some of his thoughts and opinions.

"How's the sample collection going? Do we have anything? Any traces, hair, damn it, even a drop of saliva?!"

Maria Hill's denial came just as quickly as before.

"So far, nothing, sir"

With that said, Fury decided to set aside the matter. Samples were important, of course, but the current situation dictated that S.H.I.E.L.D. wouldn't see any of that anytime soon.

Racking their brains over it was futile, so he decided to discuss something else.

"How are the advances in the search for Stark?" This time, Maria Hill could lift her head, and with more confidence than before, she responded positively.

"The Ten Rings, the Middle Eastern terrorist organization, has him. We've managed to locate several of their bases, and based on Stark's last known location, we're calculating where they're most likely holding him captive" Fury reviewed the data provided by Maria Hill, and some of the stress lifted from his shoulders.

Though not all the news was good, at least they were making progress in something.

"Once we have the location, we need to deploy the best agents available for his rescue. I need Stark alive" Maria Hill nodded and assured him that everything would be done according to his orders.

Fury gave some more instructions and dismissed Maria, who left his office ready to fulfill her duty.

Fury sat in his chair and looked at the data on his screens. Even with just one eye, he was able to glimpse all the images in detail.

The world was in chaos; things were changing rapidly, and if S.H.I.E.L.D. wanted to keep up, it needed to change as well.

His eye traveled to an old black and white photo, where three people smiled at the camera, two men and one woman.

He looked at each of them in detail, but in the end, his gaze stopped at one particular man.

"Maybe your son is our only chance, Howard..."

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February 12th

"The key is to use every part of your body. It should be a fluid motion, using your hips to generate the most momentum while using your front foot to stay firm and transfer weight properly"

Carol positioned herself, her body moving in accordance with Daniel's instructions. However, unbeknownst to him, she moved slightly more than she should have, so her posture wasn't as correct as it could have been.

Daniel circled her, frowning slightly as he approached and guided Carol's body, easily correcting her posture.

"You need to balance your shoulders with your feet, your left foot should go a little further back"

Carol nodded, feeling somewhat disheartened internally, knowing she couldn't deliberately make mistakes again without seeming foolish.

"Very well, that should do it" Daniel nodded and stepped aside.

"Now, hit"

Carol decided to stop distracting herself. She clenched her fist, reaffirmed her stance, tensed her muscles, and fixed her gaze forward.

Then she Hit

Daniel could see Carol's fist blur for a moment, moving at a speed that even he found difficult to follow.

The air exploded, as if a bomb had been detonated in front of Carol.

The shockwave spread, destroying everything in its path uncontrollably. Air currents sent dozens of trees and several rocks flying, shattering them into debris.

It was a good thing Daniel had decided to go deep into the mountains for this practice.

In front of Carol, hundreds of meters of earth sank, leaving an enormous crater of extraordinary depth.

Daniel looked at the uncontrolled destruction with wide eyes.

That... that was stronger than he expected.

He looked at Carol, who also stared at her fist, mouth agape.

She was stronger than he thought.

She might even be stronger than him right now.

No, she was definitely stronger than him right now.

A part of him began to worry for silly reasons, but at the same time, another part of him had a different thought. Not wanting to dwell on negative thoughts, he focused on this different thought.

The rushing air currents against his face made this even easier.

In his mind, he replayed the scene of Carol striking, the shockwave, and the force exerted on the terrain, deforming it with remarkable ease.

He remembered how kinetic energy seemed to be forcefully displaced at an impossible speed but without control.

Like a current of air moving faster than it should with immeasurable force.

He wondered... could a strike like that change the weather? His gaze lifted to the cloudy sky.

He clenched his own fist, and a childish idea came to his mind.

But this wasn't the time to test his theories.

"That was..." Carol still seemed numb from her own display of strength, and Daniel took the opportunity to continue the lesson.

"That was your power" he approached her and looked her in the eyes seriously, taking her fist, and Carol watched as he easily opened her hand.

"The reason I started with theoretical lessons first and postponed the practice until now was because of this. If you want to help people, you need more than just 'restraint.' You need precision, stability, control. I know you've always had trouble controlling your strength, and I think the main reason is that you've never explored your limits. So, we'll start by changing that from now on"

Daniel reached out and placed a white egg in the palm of Carol's hand. She looked at the egg, confused. Daniel let go of her hand, and Carol almost dropped the egg. She had to exert effort not to close her hand completely and avoid breaking it.

"Now, hit me."

"Huh?"

Seeing the girl blinking in confusion, Daniel smiled.

"Hit me without breaking the egg."

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Needless to say, they both returned home that day covered in strange fluids.

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Note:

This version is shorter than the previous one. I hope to bring more soon. For now, there won't be a schedule for updates or constant updates. As I mentioned at the beginning, I have to rethink everything from scratch, and therefore, I don't have any drafts.

I'm not sure whether to write several drafts and then edit them into chapters or take a direct approach, writing the chapter at once with my new notes (which I now have on my computer) and uploading it once it's finished.

I'll be thinking about it these days. For now, I bid you farewell. Leave me your comments, opinions, and more about the chapter.

I'm back, bitches! (though with a lot of work, haha)