21: Last Daughter

Daniel dried his hair and left the bathroom with his mind less dazed than before. He tossed the towel into the laundry basket and went to the kitchen where Carol, who had changed clothes, was preparing a traditional breakfast.

Watching her from behind, Daniel thought about everything that had happened since he found her, about all the time he had spent around her. It was a lot, enough for his mind to remember various things but at the same time too little. There was something strange about it; he only needed to look at Tony's armor in person once to start remembering who and why he was behind that armor.

He even remembered the name he would later bear, Iron Man.

The same thing happened with Matt; he only needed to find him once to remember several important things about his. With neither of them could he say he knew exactly everything he should have known, but at least now he knew their basic backgrounds and had a clear idea of who they were. Over time, his memories about them would fully return even if he no longer interacted with them.

But Carol... there were things, small clues that left little flashes of information but at the same time, if compared, it was like picking up crumbs compared to what he got from Tony and Matt... why? He couldn't help but have that question swirling in his head since he started investigating the radiation that Greg emitted.

Somehow he knew that this radiation was not natural, at least not on Earth. It had to come from another place, another world, and he knew that this world should be the home world where Carol came from.

He felt an instinctive connection, but why didn't that fact reveal more to him? Why did she still have a dark cloud covering the information that, logically, should have been revealed to him long ago? My god, he had spent entire weeks just interacting with this girl!

What made her special? Apart from everything else that was obvious, of course.

It was that veil of mystery around her that made him unconsciously defensive when dealing with her, even if he could clearly see that she was completely on his side. He couldn't trust her due to his own biases born of a subconscious paranoia.

In a somewhat sinister way, he knew that if he told her right here and now to leave her home and go with him without even giving a valid reason, she would follow... because it was obvious to him that she trusted him to that extent. That was another reason he didn't want to get too close; having so much influence over another person's decisions and actions was something he didn't know how to handle.

Especially when that person was a super-powered teenager who could probably destroy the world if things got out of control.

That's why dealing with Harleen was so easy. He knew who she was, where she could go, and what she could become, and how to largely prevent that from happening. It helped that she was attractive and getting along with her was easy. You could say that leaving Smallville for a while was also partly a way to distance himself from Carol for a few days and spend more time with Harleen.

She was a grounded, adult woman who could easily remind him of his humanity just by spending time with her. And for Daniel, losing his humanity was the one thing he wouldn't allow; it was something he needed to protect to keep being Defiant.

"What's wrong?" Carol turned to look at him, her light blue eyes as dazzling as ever. Daniel avoided looking at her too much since it was easy for his gaze to wander if he wasn't careful. Beauty was hard to resist, after all.

"I need to talk to you about something important," he approached the kitchen and said, looking at her seriously. It was time to try to resolve some mysteries that wouldn't let him rest.

Avoiding her was too childish, and now that his investigation was on pause, he had no excuse to keep avoiding solving the mystery surrounding her. Besides, he needed to deal with the source of the radiation in Smallville before another Greg decided to suddenly appear.

Like killing several birds with one stone, simple.

Carol looked at him and stopped cooking. It was easy to get her attention.

"I discovered something while doing my investigation I—" Daniel's words were cut off by the sound of Carol crushing the cooking spoon in her hand. The metal of the kitchen utensil bent like hot plasticine, causing Daniel to raise his eyebrows as Carol's expression remained calm even if her eyes now had a tint of red in them.

Carol looked at the spoon for a moment, easily used her super strength to fix it as best as she could, and then looked back at Daniel.

"What were you saying?"

With no small amount of confusion, Daniel continued.

"While I was investigating the changes in Greg, I found residues of a strange type of radiation inside his body, something never before seen by humanity. Its molecular structure is completely different from any other type of radiation on Earth..."

Carol frowned, not missing the words, never before seen by humanity and any other type of radiation on Earth. Her stomach suddenly sank a bit but she still asked.

"What do you mean?"

"That it might come from the same place as you. Do you remember how it affected you? The way your powers seemed to diminish? I analyzed some of the blood samples you let me take at the same time I did some other experiments" Daniel had taken some of Carol's blood samples to study why she had weakened.

The answer was simple.

"In all my analyses, this new type of radiation has almost negligible effects on other forms of life. Of course, this changes depending on the amount, but in itself, a small dose is as harmless as any other type of radiation. But In you, it's not," he pointed at her.

"Or more precisely, in your cells. Even the smallest exposure causes a process of cellular degradation. Of course, the solar energy within you helps combat this, but the greater and more prolonged the radiation exposure, the faster the solar energy depletes to prevent the radiation from poisoning you. This indirectly causes your powers to diminish slowly."

It was a fascinating process to observe. The blood samples managed to withstand several days of significant radiation exposure until the solar energy in them was exhausted. Then their structure began to collapse rapidly. Without solar energy, Carol could only survive a few seconds in the presence of large amounts of this radiation. With solar energy, although she would be affected and begin to weaken slowly, she could still survive for a very long time.

Carol took a few moments to process this. While she didn't understand how Greg ended up with this type of radiation in his body, the fact that it might have come from the same place as her certainly left her bewildered.

"But how?" she asked, and Daniel responded with something he had already theorized.

"I think it came with you in that meteor shower."

Carol looked up, recalling the circumstances of her arrival on Earth. The event was famous in Smallville, and she hadn't thought much about it until now.

In fact, she hadn't thought much about her true origins, the place she came from.

Ever since she found out she wasn't human, she hadn't wanted to dig too deep into it. There was some fear and, at the same time, anger. Why? Why had she been sent to Earth? Why alone? At first, a part of her wanted to know, but over time, a larger part of her began to lose interest. Maybe it was childish, but if she had been abandoned or thrown away like garbage, it wasn't something she wanted to know.

She used to look at the stars, searching among them for some clue, but soon decided it wasn't worth it. Over time, she thought about it less and less, to the point where she thought she might forget it altogether.

She was too focused on living her current life to waste time thinking about a place she had never seen, a distant and illusory place, a place where she had never been and probably never would be, and about which she knew nothing. She really lost the desire to know that place over time, to the point where even the smallest interest began to fade. Was it really necessary for her to learn more about that place when her life was and always had been on Earth?

She looked at Daniel. If it were possible, she wouldn't want to find out more, but she could see the curiosity in his blue eyes. She almost got lost in them for a moment but managed to come back to the present. If he wanted to know, then why not? In fact, this could work quite well—a secret that only they shared. It sounded quite romantic in her mind.

"Maybe it's time I find out where I come from," she said, looking in the direction where she and Daniel had hidden her ship.

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After finishing their breakfast, they decided to set off.

Daniel waited under a tree, watching Carol return from her parents' house. She had said she needed to pick up something before they left together. He thought she would want to do this on her own and then tell him what she had found, but she insisted that he come with her and do this together, so he didn't refuse.

"All set?" he asked when she reached his side. She nodded, showing him a dark metallic, elongated cylindrical object with some kind of emblem engraved on one end.

Daniel frowned at the sight of the S-shaped engraving on the object. Some images came back to his mind, but they were still incomplete. It was so frustrating.

Seeing his interest in the object, Carol explained what little she knew.

"My parents said this came with me in the ship. I'm not exactly sure what it's for, but I think we'll need it." She remembered seeing an empty space in the ship with a similar shape where this might fit.

Daniel took the object Carol handed to him. The material and texture were strange, with intricate engravings and geometric patterns of unknown purpose around its surface. It was undoubtedly something that seemed otherworldly.

"Then let's go." He handed the object back to her and carefully looked around. Moving through Smallville was still somewhat complicated but less so than before. Enough time had passed for the town to calm down. It wasn't the same as it used to be, but for Carol and Daniel, it was easy to navigate through it and leave with their super speed.

They soon covered hundreds of kilometers, deep into a forest. Remembering the location was easy for both of them. Daniel looked at the huge rock they had used to cover the entrance of the cave and easily moved it aside. Then they both entered the artificial cavern.

It wasn't natural; it was something they had created specifically in a location and terrain very difficult for humans to access.

The cave was deep, a long path that ended at another entrance to a cavern. This entrance was also blocked by another enormous rock that Carol removed. Then they both ventured inside and saw that in the center of the cavern, covered with several pieces of fabric made from Element V, was the ship.

Carol stepped forward and removed the fabric, revealing the silver-colored ship once again.

Even though Daniel had seen it once before, he still couldn't help but be amazed. After all, it was a genuine spaceship.

Its silver color and surface full of interconnected lines gave it a strange aura. Daniel couldn't help but approach and touch it once more, feeling its metallic texture against his palm. On one side, he saw a hole that he now recognized as the place where the strange object Carol had shown him should go.

He didn't stay close for too long; he carefully stepped back a few paces and looked at Carol. Now, everything depended on her.

Carol looked at the ship, unsure of what to think or feel, but she had made a decision. It was time to see what secrets this thing could reveal to her. She just hoped it wouldn't be a disappointment or this trip would have been all in vain.

She took out the cylindrical object and carefully began to insert it into where she believed it should go. It easily slid in more than halfway and then stopped.

She frowned slightly and, with some hesitation, used her palm to push the object fully inside.

Then a light began to illuminate the entire place.

Daniel watched and felt the light hit his face with astonishment. It was warm and welcoming, like the gentle embrace of a mother.

It was strange. How was it possible that a light projection could generate such clear sensations and feelings?

he watched as Carol looked somewhat bewildered by the light, then slowly, the light converged in front of the ship, forming a highly advanced projection of a figure.

Carol took a few steps back upon seeing the figure that had formed in front of her.

From the side, Daniel looked at Carol and then at the projected figure. He could easily deduce the relationship between them just by comparing their appearances.

"My dear daughter, you have grown so much," a voice, soft and feminine, swept through the area like a gentle breeze. Carol blinked, at a loss for words.

The figure approached her, looking her up and down as someone might look at something of immeasurable value.

"Tell me, how have you been?" the figure asked. Carol opened her mouth and then closed it. What should she say? It was strange and unexpected, this woman calling her her daughter... She couldn't help but frown; she didn't like it at all.

"Who are you?" she asked, and seeing her cautious gaze, the figure's smile faltered slightly.

"I am your mother... or at least what remains of her, just a remnant, a part of her consciousness stored in this ship," she gestured to Carol's ship.

The woman tried to caress Carol's cheek, but she backed away a bit, making the woman sigh. Then she looked at Daniel with curiosity.

"And who are you?"

Daniel blinked and raised his hands.

"You can ignore me; I'm only here because of her," he gestured to Carol, who had been the one to bring him along in the first place.

The woman raised an eyebrow and looked deeply at Carol, who nodded towards her with clear affirmation in her gaze.

"it's ok, he came with me. I have... a lot to ask and I need answers," the woman fell silent for a few seconds but still nodded in understanding.

"I have waited for this day for a long time. The ship has been in stasis and could only be reactivated by the master key and by you. It's good that you have finally decided to do so," she had been waiting, dormant but somehow aware that at some point, she would have to awaken. She hoped it would be sooner rather than later, but it was never too late, even if it wasn't when she expected.

"Where do you want me to start?" she asked, and Carol hesitated for a moment before responding.

"Just start," she had no idea what to ask, so she decided to leave it to her.

The woman seemed pensive for a few moments before reaching out her hand. Her actions were extremely natural and fluid, and Daniel would have truly believed she was there in front of them if he didn't know she was just an image.

In the palm of her hand, a second projection of high resolution and extremely detailed began to form—a planet, one very similar to Earth.

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

"You come from a distant planet called Krypton," Carol looked at the image. Even if she was reluctant, she couldn't help but let some of the curiosity that still lingered in her awaken.

"It was a very beautiful and vast planet, with a large population and diverse fauna. But with an environment slightly more hostile than that of this planet. We Kryptonians spread across its surface, colonizing every part of it. Our civilization was beautiful," the woman looked at the projected world affectionately. But Daniel and Carol noticed the past tense in her words.

"Then we decided it was time to expand, to go beyond our world... to the stars," in the projection, thousands of ships departed from the world, into the vast universe.

"We managed to explore our solar system, then the nearest solar systems to it. We discovered many amazing things by stepping foot on other worlds. The yellow suns in them gave us strength and power beyond comparison, causing our expansion to grow even larger. We formed alliances, made friends and enemies, and over time, the empire of Krypton grew larger and larger, although we never completely left our home planet. Our activities expanded far beyond it."

Several images were shown, displaying the glorious feats of the Kryptonians, showing their past and how their people navigated the cosmos.

The smile on the woman's face faded.

"Then He Happened..." her words were almost a whisper, the projection abruptly changed, and the revealed image caused Daniel's pupils to shrink.

In the projection, a titanic humanoid figure stood before Carol's homeworld, adorned in futuristic purple armor. Yet, perhaps the most striking aspect was the scepter in its hands, emitting a brilliant purple light that flooded the entire space with raw power.

In the projection they could see how this being approached Krypton, hundreds of Kryptonian ships returned from space and countless small figures flew out of them fighting against the being head on in a battle without equal.

"His name is Galactus, the Devourer of Worlds. He has existed since before the creation of the universe. Some perceive him as a natural force of the cosmos, while others worship him as a deity. However, labeling him as a god would be inadequate, for even gods bow before him."

The figure of the giant of unimaginable proportions became clearer, his face looked too humanoid.

"krypton was an ancient planet, its core was old, and we knew its natural life would end at any moment. He knew this too, and that's why he arrived."

Daniel looked at the projected being and cold sweat ran down his back, this being, he knew it, had plagued his thoughts as one of the concerns why he could not remain calm.

Although what he remembered of him were vague images, they were enough to give him a sense of unparalleled crisis every time they crossed his mind.

It was one of the greatest threats Daniel could remember and one of the reasons he sought to become stronger..

Carol watched the projection in disbelief. Countless Kryptonians engaged Galactus in the void of space, yet the outcome was not as hoped. Their numbers dwindled continuously, and to her incredulity, the battle seemed to reach a stalemate. Even when the Devourer of Worlds was wounded, he persisted in his advance toward Krypton.

The purple light from the scepter swept through space, wreaking havoc upon all it touched.

"Although the yellow sun gives us unparalleled powers, the red sun that illuminates Krypton does not. In that battle, all the Kryptonians who had gone to explore the stars returned, thousands of them recharged with the energy of the yellow sun. Even so, that energy could not be replenished under the presence of the red sun. Gradually, their strength waned, and the powers granted by the light of the yellow sun did too."

Carol saw it. With each passing second, more and more Kryptonians fell. At first, Galactus could not even approach the planet. Even with his powerful scepter, his power could not withstand thousands of Kryptonian soldiers recharged with the light of a yellow star mercilessly charging at him.

They broke his armor and tore his energy body without mercy, but Galactus looked like a cockroach, no matter the wounds he resisted, resisted until the strength of the Kryptonians was sapped by the red sun that illuminated their world.

The one who had given life to their species now took away their strength to protect their world.

"Krypton was going to fall, we all realized it, but no one stopped fighting. It was our home, our world. Although we had explored the stars, we had never colonized other worlds. We didn't think it was necessary, and that was our mistake," the woman looked at the images with sadness.

"Your father and I were scientists and tried to use Krypton's most advanced weapons to hold out a little longer. Even so, we knew the end was inevitable." Beams of yellow solar energy were fired at the Kryptonian army to artificially recharge their powers, but at the same time, Galactus extended his hand, causing Krypton's core to begin destabilizing and fragments of the planet started being abruptly torn away, bright green crystals flooding space.

It was then that the Kryptonian army fell.

Galactus arrived at the planet and began to devour its energy, devastating it mercilessly, causing visible havoc from space.

"The end was imminent, we knew it, and even if we were not willing to fall like this, there was nothing we could do to prevent it. We had no options left, not for us at least, but you... both of you still had hope."

Carol frowned.

"Both?" she asked hesitantly.

"You and your brother," she said, and looked at her with sadness, a look that showed a pain very few could understand and somehow made Carol feel some pity for her.

The projection changed, showing two small babies being placed each in their own individual ship.

"We didn't want you to share the same fate as us, so we planned to send you far away, to a place where you would be safe. We wanted to send you together, but all the advanced ships were being used for the battle. Your father managed to salvage some old single-passenger models and hastily adapted them for you."

In the image, a man moved quickly, modifying the ships at full speed in what looked like a messy lab. Blood trickled down the side of his head; he was injured but didn't stop working.

Soon both ships were ready, and a baby was placed in each.

Carol looked at the two small figures with amazement and disbelief.

The two ships took off, both navigating the sky in the same direction, but something went wrong. One of the planet's debris hit one of the ships, diverting its trajectory closer to Galactus. The giant noticed the small ship and extended his hand.

He took it between his fingers and brought it towards his mouth, then with one bite, the ship was devoured before Carol's horrified eyes.

"Even with the best calculations, we couldn't prevent it. We couldn't save him," Carol's mother looked at the image with a sadness that could be felt, her eyes were teary, but no tears came out; she couldn't cry, not anymore, even if she wanted to.

Carol stood still, feeling numb, watching as her home world was devoured until it disappeared in a great explosion, not knowing what to say or feel.

"His name, what was his name?" remembering the image of that small baby in the ship, she couldn't help but ask.

The woman turned off the projection, bringing the cavern back to its original darkness, and answered with sorrow in her voice.

"His name was Kal-El, and he was your older brother."

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Night had fallen again. Carol and Daniel returned to the Evans farm and sat on the porch, looking up at the sky, each lost in their own thoughts.

Carol was thinking about everything she had learned, everything she could have had but lost.

Daniel, for his part, was quite worried and relieved at the same time.

Galactus—thinking about him was another headache he didn't want to deal with, so he directed his attention to something else, at least temporarily.

Carol... Kal-El, Superman.

Now he remembered almost everything, now he understood why he couldn't find out more about Carol despite spending so much time around her. Unlike Tony and Matt, she wasn't directly the source of his lost memories. Sure, she was extremely related, but she wasn't him, she wasn't Clark Kent.

Once he heard the true name of the last son of Krypton, it was as if that closed door had shattered and an avalanche of memories flooded his mind.

The world's greatest hero was dead or missing, never having made it to Earth, and instead, someone else took his place.

Something that wasn't supposed to happen had happened...

Remembering one of his disadvantages, he couldn't help but wonder if this was his fault.

[Madness Mashup in the World: things that shouldn't exist do exist, and they're all a problem]

He hadn't understood it at first, but now maybe he could get an idea...

He glanced at Carol out of the corner of his eye. Now that he knew her true identity and origin, there was no longer any reason to draw a barrier between them. In fact, now that he knew the truth, he felt incredibly foolish for having worried about her and her future.

Well, maybe not so much. Carol wasn't at all like the Clark Kent in his memories. Sure, she had grown up on a farm raised by two loving parents, but... she was different.

Clark was like a beacon of hope, lighting up the world, a pillar of justice, truth, and good.

Carol... she might have the same blood running through her veins, but... she wasn't like him. He didn't know why, what made them so different? He thought for a second about the theory of the good twin and the evil twin, and for a moment he wondered if Carol was really the evil twin.

But that was stupid... she wasn't that bad, most of the time, but she wasn't a being of light full of goodness either. She was... simply herself.

He decided to stop thinking about it. Searching for explanations about how and why people turn out so different even if they come from the same place made no sense. Every individual has their own personality and traits independent of their origin or upbringing.

Carol was simply Carol.

With this new understanding, he couldn't help but relax around her in a way he never had before.

But he couldn't fully enjoy it, at least not as much as he would have liked.

Because the threat he feared, he now knew, was real and out there, in deep space, destroying worlds and entire civilizations.

At any moment, it could come to Earth, and he wasn't sure he could save this planet, its people. He didn't believe he would die against it; he had many ways to survive, and wandering through space was easy for a Viltrumite.

If he wanted, he could go anywhere in the universe.

But Earth and its inhabitants were another matter. What purpose did his life, his existence, have if he simply escaped and let humanity be destroyed?

What meaning would he have in such a situation?

If he fled, what would differentiate him from trash?

No, actually, trash would be better because at least trash serves the function of being trash.

Without humanity, what function did he have?

He couldn't allow this world to be destroyed. He would rather die again than let something like that happen.

If the worst came to pass, he would simply take as many humans as he could and find a new planet, create a new Earth.

And he would find a way to avenge the old one.

Avenge, huh...

No matter what, as long as there was life in his body, he would not allow humanity to be destroyed.

If necessary, he would force humanity's evolution. Of course, he didn't want to use that method.

He wanted to be a hero; if he used the most radical method, he would end up being nothing but a conqueror.

A dictator, a monster.

And deep down, he was pretty sure that if cornered, he wouldn't hesitate to do whatever was necessary, no matter how horrible and cruel it might be.

Wow, those thoughts were too dark; he needed to correct that. Maybe it was time to get some therapy. He wondered if Harleen would be willing to help him with that.

"Do you think blonde would suit me?"

The unexpected question snapped Daniel out of his deep thoughts. He blinked and looked at Carol, who was playing with one of her locks and looking at him.

"Why do you ask?" It was a strange, out-of-the-blue question. He expected her to be more focused on the new discoveries they had made.

"I think I want to dye my hair, you know, just to change my style or something," she said, trying not to sound too obvious and looking at him with a hint of anticipation.

"I think you look pretty good with your natural color; it makes your eyes stand out," Daniel said, unsure of what else to respond. Sure, blonde was good, but he didn't think there was a dye that could really penetrate Carol's hair, at least not one that would withstand the friction from her speed without wearing off.

His answer made Carol frown.

"Really? So you prefer the dark color?" she asked, pointing to her hair. Daniel hesitated for a fraction of a second before responding, a fraction that felt like hours to Carol.

"I think any color is fine as long as you like it," he shrugged. Denying that he liked blonde would be a lie, but it wasn't as if it was something too important. In retrospect, any color was fine as long as the person wearing it liked it.

'But I want you to like it,' Carol thought with a pout. She sighed and leaned back in her chair before patting her bag and pulling out a 15-centimeter-long white crystal out of her bag.

It was almost transparent, and if one looked at it casually, it would just seem like a piece of jewelry, like a quartz crystal you might see being sold in shops for just a few dollars.

"Have you decided what you're going to do with it?" Daniel asked, looking at the crystal in her hand. Carol shook her head.

"No idea. Suggestions? Or are you going to say any place is fine too?" She couldn't help but say it with a hint of sarcasm. She regretted it instantly, but before she could say anything to fix it, Daniel spoke.

"Actually, I think there's a very suitable place." Carol looked at him curiously, and Daniel smiled.

"Tell me, do you want to go to Antarctica?"

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Note:

Five thousand words.

I wanted to bring this chapter earlier, but I'm an idiot and I injured myself by mishandling a sharp knife. Blood gushed like a fountain, but I managed to fix it. The only problem is that now I only have 9 fingers to write until I heal, which makes it somewhat uncomfortable to write, but not impossible.

I can adapt.SuperSoldier week ends today, I hope to be able to release another chapter before we return to the usual schedule, then I hope to be able to compensate for the lack of Still Defiant chapters.

You know the drill, comments, suggestions, criticisms, don't hesitate to leave them all!

Tell me what you think of this revelation, what did you think?