Still Defiant! SI-OC [Marvel/DC]

51: Old Dilemma

Luthor, a surname that resurfaced in his memories ever since he discovered Carol's true identity, but one he hadn't paid much attention to for several reasons.

Daniel had a small personal classification system for threats he remembered—nothing really sophisticated, just a way to assign them importance based on what he recalled about them and how much they might threaten the world and humanity.

Luthor, or rather Lex Luthor, wasn't among those he considered urgent to deal with.

Not because he didn't consider him dangerous—he actually knew he was—but because he was, in essence, a focused threat. From what he remembered, Lex wasn't a villain who sought senseless "destruction" but rather someone with goals and long-term plans.

He didn't remember absolutely everything about the man, and at the same time, there were many things he didn't know since he never investigated them in his previous life. But what he did know was that Luthor wasn't someone who would put humanity in danger... at least not immediately.

It was a matter of escalation. Lex was the type of enemy Daniel classified as one who started small and grew over time—if you gave him the time, of course. And that was something Daniel had no intention of letting happen in the first place.

For this reason, when his memories of him began to resurface, Daniel conducted an investigation to understand what kind of person he was dealing with and whether he could nip such a threat in the bud.

What he discovered actually made him realize that there was nothing he could do against him at the moment—or rather, nothing he needed to do against him at the moment.

The Lex of this world was... an ordinary rich heir, with outstanding intelligence, sure, but nothing beyond that. There were some shady things, of course—some youthful scandals swept under the rug by his father's power, as well as a few minor crimes he got away with thanks to his money—but apart from that, there was nothing that classified him as a criminal in the true sense of the word.

In simple terms, he was far from being the kind of threat Daniel had seen he could become in his memories.

This was where he found himself facing the same dilemma he had encountered when he decided how to deal with Harleen.

Could he really judge people solely based on his memories of versions of them in other universes? Nothing assured him that the Lex who existed in this world was the same or would end up the same as his counterparts in other worlds.

Just as nothing assured him that things would turn out differently.

'No, thinking it will be different might blind me and make me lower my guard unnecessarily. I must not take Harleen as the rule but as the exception, for nothing indicates it will always be like this with other people.' At the same time, nothing told him there couldn't be another exception…

He supposed this was akin to that old time travel dilemma, where a person travels to the past to kill the great "villain" at their most vulnerable moment—usually when they are a child or a baby.

But is it truly right to punish someone who has not yet committed any crime?

After thinking about it for a long time, Daniel finally arrived at a conclusion.

No. It wasn't right.

Although Daniel was more severe in his approach to justice, his boundaries were also clear. He couldn't simply go around killing anyone because he thought they might be a danger. That would be nothing more than spitting on everything he sought to achieve and heading straight down the path of tyranny.

Becoming a monster was absolutely not what he wanted.

'Being a hero isn't easy,' was something that was becoming increasingly evident to him the longer he spent in this new life.

Of course, his decision not to eliminate such a threat from the cradle didn't mean he would allow things to escalate unnecessarily. While he had decided to leave Luthor alone for the time being, that didn't mean he wasn't prepared to deal with him as severely and decisively as possible if he committed any action that endangered the lives of innocent people.

With his decision finally made, Daniel would have been content to let Luthor live his life without interference as long as he didn't do anything too scandalous.

'So, how did Lena Luthor end up in Smallville?'

Lena Kieran Luthor.

He didn't know much about her, really. In his memories, her name had only come up once or twice, and only as a fleeting mention due to her relationship with Lex Luthor.

Aside from that, the only information he had about the woman was what he had uncovered while researching the Lex of this world.

In every sense, she was a... decent woman. Unlike her brother, she never got involved in any scandals, broke the law, or did anything questionable. Perhaps because she spent most of her youth in a girls' boarding school, or maybe because, once she left, she decided to focus seriously on her university studies, achieving great success in all the fields she ventured into.

The reasons could be many and varied, but in the end, the truth was that her record was completely clean.

The last thing he had heard about her was that she had paused her pursuit of a fourth doctorate after her father's death and had joined her brother at LuthorCorp to start running the company alongside him.

It seemed things had changed.

'Her arrival in Smallville could complicate things, not to mention her encounter with Carol.'

He decided he would need to find out more about the situation somehow. Daniel couldn't imagine any reason why Lena would be interested in coming to Smallville. LuthorCorp had nothing of value in this place, which meant she had probably been forced to come or something similar.

If Lex had decided to take full control of the company, it could spell trouble, and it was better to find out if he was planning something dangerous and stop it before it caused any harm.

'But how can I find out?' He doubted that approaching her and directly asking about the situation would yield anything. It would undoubtedly seem highly suspicious.

"Are you okay? You suddenly stopped eating. Is something wrong with the taste?"

Snapped out of his thoughts, Daniel returned to reality, looking at an anxious Carol. They were still at his farm. After the girl finished telling him everything that had happened to her during the day, she had offered to cook for the two of them, and as always, Daniel hadn't turned down the offer of good food.

Midway through dinner, Daniel had become lost in thought, letting the plate in front of him grow cold without realizing it.

"No, there's nothing wrong. It tastes excellent, as always. I was just thinking about some things. Sorry."

"Is there something worrying you? Is it about that woman in the fortress?" Carol almost frowned as she asked the question but managed to control her reaction.

"No, she's fine. It's about something else—Lena Luthor." Daniel saw no point in not saying it, so he simply spoke freely.

"Her? Are you worried she might suspect something about me?"

"Well, that's also a concern now that you mention it, but actually, I'm wondering what someone like her is doing in Smallville." Carol blinked, confused by his response.

"Why? Is she someone important?"

Daniel raised an eyebrow, giving her a strange look.

"You… don't know who she is, do you?" She shook her head.

Daniel considered what to say, but once he thought about it, it made sense that she wouldn't know. Lena had never really been a public figure, and her name had only started appearing in the spotlight due to her father's death and everything it meant for LuthorCorp.

Therefore, he decided to explain a bit about the Luthor family to put Carol on the same page.

"So… she's the heir to one of the most important companies in Metropolis, and she's supposed to be in that city running the company alongside her brother. But instead, for some reason, she's here in Smallville… and that worries you?"

"In short, yes." Carol looked at him in silence for a moment before sighing lightly.

"I don't get it."

Daniel could only remain silent. After all, he couldn't exactly tell her that he was worried because the brother of that woman might, maybe, probably, possibly, someday, become a very dangerous supervillain.

His meta-knowledge was something important that he wasn't willing to let slip under any circumstances. After all, it was partly inaccurate and not entirely reliable.

In the world, few things were as dangerous as knowledge, and one of them was incomplete knowledge. Daniel had almost made a mistake because of it when he thought Carol was something she wasn't, and he wasn't willing to let something similar happen in the future.

If he wasn't completely certain of the information in his hands, then he wouldn't share it arbitrarily with others. He preferred not to take unnecessary risks.

"It's fine if you don't understand. It's just a concern I'll deal with later," even though he didn't have many ideas about how to do so at the moment.

"I could help you." Carol's words made Daniel look at her with some surprise.

"I mean, I saved her, didn't I? That should count for something. If she really stays in Smallville, I'll surely 'run into' her sooner or later. After all, it's a small town… maybe I could ask her a few questions then."

At this suggestion, Daniel frowned, about to refuse, and noticing this, Carol quickly spoke again.

"I know it could be risky, but if you feel it's important, wouldn't it be worth it?"

"You've already exposed yourself too much by saving her. We don't know if she saw something that might make her doubt and suspect you. Getting closer could complicate things unnecessarily."

Hearing this, Carol felt a bit frustrated. Here was a chance to help him, and he refused to let her. She didn't understand—she was just a rich woman; what could be so interesting about her that he thought she was a concern? If she hadn't saved her, she'd be swimming with the damned fish at the bottom of the river!

Noticing her irritation, Daniel sighed slightly.

"I know you want to help, but there are things you're better off letting me handle on my own."

Seeing the lingering unease in her eyes, he realized she wouldn't drop the subject so easily. So, even if it felt somewhat wrong, he had to make her stop insisting on it.

"Just promise me you won't go looking for her, alright?"

Carol bit her lip, but seeing the serious look he gave her, she finally agreed.

"Fine…" She couldn't refuse his request, and they both knew it. She didn't like it, but Daniel had to ensure she would listen.

'I'll make it up to her later.' He didn't know how, but somehow, he would.

Both fell into a slightly tense silence. Daniel chewed on his now-cold food and wondered if it was too late to ask her to use her heat vision to reheat it…

'Ah, seems like I forgot something.' Thinking about one of Carol's ocular powers, Daniel suddenly remembered there was something he needed to give her.

In a high-speed motion, Daniel disappeared from his seat and went to his room, where he had left his suit along with his tool belt. He then took out the case Lara had given him and returned to the dining table.

Seeing the dark case in his hands, she raised an eyebrow with curiosity, their earlier conversation now moving to the background.

"Your mother wanted me to give you this. It's something she's been working on. I'm not entirely sure what it's for, but it should be important."

Carol took the case and, with interest, opened it. Seeing the glasses inside, she couldn't help but feel confused for a second.

Why had her mother made this?

Carol considered putting them on to see if she could figure it out, but she ultimately decided against it. Instead, she planned to make a trip to the Fortress later and ask Lara directly.

Something she had come to learn the more she studied technological topics with her mother was that handling advanced things without any idea of what they did usually didn't end well.

"Thanks for bringing them." The fact that her mother used Daniel as a courier actually struck her as amusing, since all three of them knew how unnecessary it was. Even so, she appreciated the gesture, as it was surely done with her in mind.

If the incident with Lena hadn't happened, this would have been a much more pleasant moment.

The rest of the dinner was less tense and more enjoyable, though it was short-lived because Daniel hurried to finish his meal, wanting to go to his workshop to study the stock market a bit. In the end, he had decided he was going to sell the Stark Industries shares he had bought in the past.

At the moment, Stark Industries' value was soaring, and while he could wait for it to rise even more, he decided to play it safe and cash out his profits while it was still secure.

Moreover, the fund he had set aside for his personal expenses was starting to decrease significantly, and he preferred not to find out what it meant to declare bankruptcy.

He had worked very hard in his previous life to avoid such a fate, and he wasn't about to let his second life fall into such a tragedy if he could help it.

For her part, Carol returned to her parents' farm. Although she would have liked to stay at Daniel's house until dawn, it wasn't something she could do without risking being discovered.

Her departure reminded Daniel that he had never actually met her adoptive parents. That… somehow felt wrong, though at the same time, he hoped he wouldn't have to do it anytime soon.

God knew that meeting a girl's parents was always difficult.

He had enough experience to know it would be awkward one way or another.

'Let's forget about that for now; I need to start making some calls.' Although in this era, stock sales through digital means were already available, they still weren't at the level they would reach in the future when the internet became more advanced.

There were still some things better done the "traditional" and manual way, which, of course, required certain preparations.

'Maybe I could optimize Overwatch to make the process much faster and more automated.' Now that was an idea worth considering—maybe even a side business that could generate considerable profits if done the right way.

'Although I don't know if this world will also be affected by the 2008 financial crisis,' he remembered that such an event was one of the factors that drove the large-scale adoption of digital platforms, as brokerage firms sought to be more efficient and reduce their operating costs.

If he could capitalize on the moment, then he could become—or rather, make Overwatch become—the perfect tool to serve as the preferred digital platform for investors.

'Although that could also be a risky plan.' Daniel didn't know enough about investments to determine whether it was truly a viable idea. His knowledge of the subject was, at best, slightly above average, and although he could study it in depth, it wasn't a topic that genuinely interested him.

'For now, let's not overthink it.' Tempting as it was, Daniel preferred not to interfere too much with the stock market if it could be avoided. He feared his actions might trigger a chain reaction that would end up making everything worse.

The world was already going to face enough disasters in the future without him carelessly meddling with people's money.

Before he could dwell further on the thought, one of the many screens in his workshop broadcasting the news immediately caught his attention.

"Just moments ago, a series of high-intensity explosions completely engulfed the top of the newly christened Stark Tower. We still don't have information on what caused this—" The reporter's words were cut off when one last blinding explosion engulfed the top of the building, instantly destroying some of its upper floors.

For a moment, everything fell into a tense silence.

Then, Daniel saw Tony in his armor flying out from the cloud of smoke and begin putting out the fire.

It seemed their planned meeting was going to happen sooner than expected. 

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Note:

End of the chapter! I hope you enjoyed it.

It's a bit shorter than usual, but I felt that stretching it unnecessarily could be exhausting—I'm not a fan of adding filler, haha.

This is probably one of the few chapters where I'll touch on topics related to investments. I'm not very knowledgeable about the subject, and I don't want to delve too deeply into it since it could become too heavy. After all, this isn't a story about business.

Anyway, in the next chapter, we'll find out what kind of trouble Tony has gotten himself into and finally start taking steps toward forming the real Avengers team. After all, having only two members makes things a bit dull, don't you think?

I know there are many narrative threads to keep track of, but I hope to start tying everything together soon, though I don't want to rush it.

I'd love to hear what you're looking forward to and what you're excited to see. Maybe you're interested in more fights, or perhaps more everyday life scenes? Don't hesitate to leave your comments!

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