Greed and a desire for power, that's why his Father had died, that's why his Sister was in the hospital… just stupid greed… Honestly? Even now, Danny still didn't know if he believed the broken man in front of him.
According to Kaiser, they hadn't even known about him. No, the Empire was preparing to make a move on the docks, typically ABB territory, but they didn't want to confront the dragon directly, at least not yet, instead simply spreading their influence in the area and letting the common gang members fight.
In order to fuel the street conflict, with the help of Gesellschaft, Krieg had managed to arrange the purchase of several weapons, to be delivered in weekly shipments in order to not attract attention.
Unfortunately, Danny Senior turned out to be a thorn in their side, always doing his best to keep gang influence out of the Dockworkers' Union. A week ago, he managed to get the Empire's grunt fired and the warehouse where some of the weapons were stored raided by the police.
That meant the Empire hadn't just lost a shipment, without a man inside they also couldn't get any new deliveries made. The plan was to kidnap Senior, punish him for going against the Empire and convince him to solve the problem for them, any damage done could be healed by Othala when he gave in.
Unfortunately, Senior hadn't given in even after torture, so they got the great idea of using his kids against him, Krieg had let them.
What happened next was only Kaiser's best guess, but either Danny Senior had still refused to give in while they tortured and violated Taylor, or he HAD surrendered, but the thugs were annoyed at how much he made them work for it and wanted to… have some fun while waiting for Othala to come heal him.
Sitting atop an empty crate at the abandoned factory, Danny Jr just stared at the man in front of him, rage and frustration filling his mind, even now, his eyes still had a hint of red as he kept his heat vision barely contained.
Torturing Kaiser hadn't actually made Danny feel any better, no matter how much he deserved it, but he couldn't deny having enjoyed ripping the plates of metal from the asshole's body, then using his own conjured metal to cut off his fingers and break his bones.
Getting up, he took a step towards the man and saw him flinch, releasing a whimper of fear before trying to scuttle away on broken limbs.
Danny snorted, despite his appearance and how much suffering he caused, Kaiser was nowhere near as brave as he looked, breaking after only the first few minutes.
"See, this is the true face of your Empire," Danny growled, grabbing the Neo-Nazi by the hair and shaking him towards the tied up form of Purity at a corner. "He couldn't care less about 'whites', both my father and sister were from whites of French descendancy and he was perfectly happy torturing them for power."
Purity couldn't answer, he had tied a cloth around her mouth to keep her from bothering him, but her eyes were wide from fear. Still, he dragged Kaiser's broken form in front of her.
"You heard him admit it, he doesn't even give a fuck about his own ideology, even finds it bothersome since it narrows his recruitment pool. I bet you feel stupid now for believing this bullshit… Or maybe you always knew?"
With a swift movement, Danny pulled down Purity's gag, the older woman flinched at his touch, pushing her body against the wall to avoid him. "You monster," she managed to say.
"Monster… yes, Heroes don't seem to scare you guys, so I'll be a monster if that's what it takes," Danny nodded, then lowered the hand holding Kaiser up. "But, if I'm a monster, I suppose you think people capable of violating a young girl are saints?"
Purity had the decency of looking ashamed at that, but Danny wasn't satisfied. "Do you think he wouldn't treat your daughter the same way if it gave him power? Or that even a single member of this damn 'Empire' would care if he did?"
"Max wouldn't!" she protested, but Danny could see the uncertainty there.
"He would! When his father wanted his sister to inherit the Empire, Kaiser killed her and blamed Marquis, then, when the old man was taking too long to retire, he killed him too. To people like him, family are just mere tools."
Danny didn't actually know if that was true, but he had certainly read enough discussions about Worm in his previous life that made it a distinct possibility.
"You're lying, I know Max isn't a good person but he…"
Before she finished, Danny shook the Nazi leader and, after two hours under his hand, Kaiser didn't even dare lie.
"Sister… was too violent… ack… to lead," the Neo Nazi coughed, then continued. "Hookwolf… killed F-Father."
"See, the Empire aren't protectors, they're exactly as barbaric as the ABB, they just have better PR," Danny stepped away, still dragging Kaiser by his hair. "I said I wouldn't kill you, but the rest of the Empire won't be so lucky."
Blasting the ropes binding her with heat vision, Danny turned away from the woman and spoke again. "You've 5 days to leave the city, I suggest you turn yourself in to the PRT and make a deal with them, but I don't really care if you don't.
"Regardless, before you leave, I want you to go to Brockton bay Central Hospital. I want you to look into my sister's face, read the report of what happened to her, then I want you to ask how many girls like her the Empire has made over the years. No more pretending your gang is better than any other."
No longer paying her any attention, Danny lifted Kaiser in front of his face, the man barely had enough strength to cry out in pain, then he smiled at him. "Now, it's time to turn you into a message, something people won't just forget. Don't worry, it will still hurt a lot, but I promise you it will end… eventually."
With wide steps, Danny walked into the abandoned factory's main room, then he slowly started rising in the air, lifting Kaiser by the hair with him until he floated in front of the central support beam.
Grabbing the piece of deformed steel still attached to the man's leg, he ripped it out, tearing a large patch of Kaiser's skin and drawing a loud cry of pain from the Villain. Then Danny broke the steel in two and used it to nail both of his wrists to the support beam.
Blood flowed down the Villain's arm, then over his battered body to finally start dripping slowly to the ground. Danny frowned, it was flowing slower than he thought.
Putting a finger over a non-vital area of Kaiser's chest, the Kryptonian simply pressed down, pushing a digit through his flesh as if it was butter. The Villain screamed again, his voice rough from doing it too much, but Danny just pulled his hand back, letting the blood flow freely.
Finally, when he had enough, he left Kaiser hanging three meters from the ground and used the accumulated blood to draw a message to every villain and gang member in the city.
Honestly? Danny simply didn't care about all Villains, those who were content on playing their little cops and robbers game, who truly stuck to those ridiculous "Unwritten Rules" were just… not worth his time.
Oh, he'd still kill most of them, or at least break a few bones but, if they were scared off by the message and fled the city, he wouldn't pursue, there were far worthier Villains to hunt down.
Also, a message in blood was a pretty memorable thing, maybe it could convince a few idiots to avoid the Bay once he was done cleaning it up. It would be annoying to have to hunt down new Villains every month.
Picking up the remaining of Kaiser's hastily made steel armor, Danny melted them with his heat vision until the liquid metal gathered in his cupped hands, then he flew back to Kaiser.
Max Anders just whimpered when he came closer, but he lacked the strength to even wiggle his body, dried tears running down his beaten face.
"Come on, aren't you Kaiser, the great leader of the Empire? Show some courage! Some Fighting spirit! You were certainly brave when you ordered the rape of my Sister," Danny taunted, some of the liquid metal dripping between his fingers to sizzle against the ground. "Don't worry, I'm actually just about to leave, but first, a brave leader like you shouldn't die without his armor."
Opening his hands, Danny slowly poured the boiling metal over Kaiser's shoulders and chest, making sure to pay special attention to every one of the cuts on his chest. Danny didn't think the Villain had another scream in him, but he was wrong.
The metal burned through his flesh and into his muscles before cooling down over the wounds, attaching to Kaiser's entire naked chest. Finally, with the last bit of molten metal, Danny made sure to craft him a crown, molding the metal directly against his skull.
Somehow, Max Anders didn't die, not immediately, maybe his power protected him a little from the heated metal, but he was left to enjoy the last minutes of his life in utter agony, even Othala couldn't heal him.
Taking a few seconds to appreciate his work, Danny nodded, then he accelerated, flashing out of the abandoned factory and into the sky above the docks. The sun was already starting to rise, pleasant rays of light bathing his skin and entering his every cell.
Making sure to keep from making a sonic boom so as to not reveal Kaiser's location too soon, Danny flew home.
His house's front lock was broken, but someone had made sure not to leave the door gaping and, despite the clear signs of broken wood, nobody had actually called the police.
Instead, a PRT team stood inside his living room, Velocity helping search the house.
Danny should have expected something like that, he had left Taylor for the PRT to take care of after all… Did it mean she was already awake? No, he had told Panacea her full name, so maybe they just used that to locate the house.
Using his X-Ray vision to stare through the walls of the house, he looked at the hidden room in their basement where his escape rocket was kept and sighed in relief, they still hadn't found it.
When he was eleven, before Anette died, both his Parents had decided to reveal his true heritage; he already knew, of course, but it was nice to have confirmation.
He really was from this universe's Krypton, his birth parents were Jor-El and Lara Lor-Van and they had both died with his planet's explosions.
In short, he was reincarnated as this universe's version of Superman, not some other kryptonian… that's just like Worm, they could have been gifted with Kal-El, greatest hero of DC and, instead, they only got Danny.
Superman could have given them hope… Danny wasn't built like that, the best he could do was give the villains punishment and that'd have to be enough.
Still, he had to get the rocket away from the PRT, not only did he NOT want Cauldron getting a hand on Kryptonian tech —they'd probably fuck it up like they did everything else and revive Eden or something like that— but he wanted the sunstone kept inside.
Both a storage of Kryptonian knowledge and a seed of construction, the sunstone would allow him to build his own Fortress of Solitude, as well as start using Krypton's tech.
In truth, Danny had wanted to use the sunstone as soon as he knew it was possible, but he simply hadn't dared, after all, Earth Bet had such things as the Endbringers, the Triumvirate and Scion, he couldn't count on just secrecy to hide the Fortress.
Now? Now he was fairly confident he could defend it from an Endbringer or keep it from the Triumvirate's hands and… He was also willing to chance Scion noticing and taking an interest through his miasma of indifference. It should be a very small chance anyway.
More than that, Danny no longer cared if he became an enemy of the PRT. Even a week ago he'd have to worry about the consequences of such a decision, now he couldn't give a shit if they ruined his life, it was already ruined anyway.
Ignoring the PRT agents, he flashed into the house through his bedroom window, taking a second to quietly change into some better clothes in a blur of movement, then he rushed towards the basement. He didn't even take a second to open the latch to the small, only four feet wide and seven feet long, secret room, then he stared at the small baby rocket.
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"Junior, me and your mother have something to tell you," his father said, carrying him into the basement on his arms. "You've always been very mature and, now, we think you're old enough for it."
Danny had resisted getting carried when he was younger —he had died at 25 in his second life, for fuck's sake, it was shameful— but his Parents enjoyed carrying him so much and… well, he kinda enjoyed letting them pamper him.
It took some time, seven years to be precise, but Danny had decided to enjoy being a kid. He wouldn't really pretend to be immature, no, but at a combined 32 years of age, he felt that he was old enough to stop forcing himself to be 'mature' too.
How did the saying go? In his second life, he was old enough to put childish things away, like the fear of being childish and the desire to be grown up.
In truth, Danny hadn't exactly been showered with love by the Lipovsky's, his first life parents, so… Was it any surprise that, despite being reincarnated, he saw the Heberts as far more of a family then they had ever been?
"You know how we always said you're different from parahumans?" His mother asked. "Well, that's because…"
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Shaking his head, Danny dismissed the memories, knowing he'd never see them again hurt, then he opened the ship's cockpit and pressed the house El's crest on the bottom. A small white crystal rose from the ship with a 'hiss'.
Pocketing the Sunstone crystal, he grabbed the ship… and released it, twisting around to almost catch a hand coming for his shoulders.
Eyes wide, Velocity stepped back, moving so fast his body must have looked like a blur to a normal human. "Wait… Danny Hebert Junior?"
Hmm… it seems like his little moment of distraction gave the Hero enough time to notice his presence, or for some device to warn the man someone else was in the house, Danny hadn't checked for any monitoring device when he arrived and Armsmaster was a Tinker.
Stepping in front of the ship, he hid it from the hero's view and nodded. "How's my sister?"
Velocity seemed to consider his answer, "Alive, she survived the surgery last I heard."
"Good," Danny nodded, noticing a weight he hadn't known leaving his chest. "I suspect you're trying to find out what happened? Don't bother."
"Sorry for intruding, but we have a warrant, and finding out what happened is kind of our job, you know?" The Hero tried to break the ice, his smile seeming reassuring even as Danny could hear his heart slowly accelerating.
Danny sighed, from the way Velocity was acting, the PRT probably knew about his assault on Kaiser's house and, even if not, he didn't care to hide it… on second thought, he didn't really care if they found out about his ship too, so he decide to continue working while talking.
"I suppose there's no problem explaining, if I'm not there, perhaps it's best if you can tell Taylor what happened," turning his back, Danny closed the ship and lifted it over his shoulder.
Using as few words as possible, he explained what Kaiser had told him to the man, then started walking towards the stairs.
"Is this really what your sister would want?" Velocity asked without getting out of the way. "Trust me, she'll need you there when she wakes up… there's still time to turn this around, you're a minor and the Empire attacked your family directly, they'll make you a deal and you can stay with her."
Danny stopped, considering Velocity's words, then he briefly closed his eyes… Yeah, as she was now? "Probably not, but we're family, she'll still love me, and I've had quite enough of Villains in the city," adjusting the ship over his shoulder, Danny stared at Velocity and let his eyes glow red with heat vision. "Also, I'd like to see them try and keep me from my sister."
From the comm at Velocity's ear, Danny heard an anxious woman's voice. "Reinforcements in 6 minutes, try to delay him… Taylor Hebert's prognosis is good, but the insurance won't cover it forever. She's still in a coma, perhaps offering to cover medications and psychological counseling?" Then there was a pause and, despite clearly disliking it, the woman continued. "Or… not, he doesn't have the connections to arrange it if he goes villain."
"Danny, look, your sister…"
"I heard," he interrupted, starting to walk. "And you're gonna take care of her because I'll participate in the next Endbringer fight, and every one after that… Alternatively, Endbringers only attack every three months, I can do it twice a day."
"Shit," Velocity started sweating. "Look, the PRT wasn't gonna prevent your sister from getting treatment, we're not a gang, even if someone would like you to think we could to put pressure on you."
The Hero was telling the truth, at least he believed he was, so perhaps this was just another way of the PRT playing hardball… Danny didn't care, he sighed. "Velocity, I don't want to hurt Heroes, and I won't be forming a gang or trying to earn a kill order, but the Empire WILL disappear, then so will Lung, he too has caused enough suffering in this city. I refuse to let anyone stand in my way."
"The PRT won't let you do that."
"They can't stop me."
For a few seconds, they just stared at each other, Danny letting the Hero see the coldness in his eyes, then they exploded into action.
Velocity was a discount speedster, he was fast enough to easily run on water and could think at that speed, but he couldn't run at light speed or affect the world like the Flash could in DC, his punches becoming little more than taps even to a normal human.
Still, with the right equipment and training, he could be incredibly dangerous to most capes.
Watching Velocity move, Danny was actually surprised, he had thought the man was only as fast as a speeding car, but when the Hero tried to run up the stars, he was moving at a little over trice that speed.
So, when Danny tried to grab his shoulder, he missed, letting the hero dash away for a second before accelerating far more and following.
Danny just walked after him, using enough of his superspeed to catch up without much effort. On the first floor, Velocity had already started pulling the pins on several foam grenades, throwing them towards the basement entrance.
Danny continued walking, the grenades flying slowly through the air, even if they didn't work with a delay, the expanding foam would never be fast enough to snatch him.
With the flick of a finger, he flickered the grenades back, there was no need to make a mess of the house, then he darted forward and punched the cape in the arm.
Strangely enough, the same power that prevented Velocity's frail body from breaking with the friction of his movements seemed to block most of the blow so, instead of losing the arm in an explosion of gore, it just broke, sending the Hero stumbling back.
Velocity bounced on the floor, then somehow got to his feet and entered his breaker state again, adrenaline accelerating his perception as fast as it had ever been… it wasn't enough, Danny was just faster, much faster.
With a flash, Danny caught the hero by the throat in the middle of the man's second step, ship still held over his shoulder, then he lifted him in the air. "While I'd prefer not to kill Heroes, I want you to know I won't take things easy, I won't play by your rules. I will cripple those who get in my way."
"Honestly, with Panacea, this won't be permanent," with a blast of heat vision, Danny amputated one of Velocity's legs, then he dropped the hero back to the floor and crouched in front of him, ignoring the PRT officers shooting at his back. "Still, I want you to understand, this pain you're feeling right now? It's a meaningless sacrifice, neither you nor the whole of Brockton's Protectorate can stop me."
A moment later, Danny launched himself into the sky, flying away from his house while carrying his own ship with one hand. In the air, he caught sight of Dauntless hurrying towards the house, but the Hero was too late… and far too slow to catch up.
Now, to find a momentary safe location for his ship, then hunt down the Empire and Coil… he was still half convinced the damn mastermind had something to do with the attack, it was just his style and, even if not, Danny wanted him gone before the snake could even think about his sister.
Using his full speed, he flew up, then disappeared from view with a sonic boom.
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