[Hotel Room, Tokyo, Japan]
Invisible shockwaves rippled through the room like silent whispers—untouchable but undeniably present. They synchronized with Daisy's breathing, not in the chaotic rhythm of combat but with the disciplined cadence of meditation. Much like the subtle fluctuations in nature—gravity, magnetism, the heartbeat of the earth—they couldn't be seen, but their presence was absolute.
Daisy sat cross-legged on the floor, the dim hotel light flickering behind her. Her hands rested on her knees, fingers forming delicate mudras. She wasn't one for mysticism, but after spending time studying Kunlun's philosophy from her memories of comics, she realized ancient monks might've been onto something. The chi they spoke of, the inner chi, was oddly similar to her string theory-informed powers—shockwaves of reality woven through invisible threads.
So, she tried to mimic it.
Her breath slowed. Her mind calmed. Her shockwaves moved subtly, delicately, curling and flexing just beneath the skin of the universe. She mirrored Kunlun's techniques as best she understood them, hoping to coax resonance.
But reality was not feeling cooperative. Each attempt fizzled out—either her concentration snapped, or the mimicry failed. Three separate trials, three abrupt failures.
"Ugh. Seriously?" she muttered, rubbing her temples.
Just as she was about to give up, a small accident happened.
A whisper. A fragment. Her powers picked up the psychic echo of something—helpless, subtle, small.
Madame Viper.
The only other person in range of her unique vibrations.
Her perception expanded, not with a bang but with a ripple. Life fragments streamed into her awareness like ribbons of thought, drifting through her senses with eerie clarity. Images of a young girl—fragile, pale, crying in the dark—poured into her mind. They weren't memories of grandeur or battle, but of pure, unfiltered vulnerability.
Daisy didn't mean to pry. But the connection was forming, like static electricity building on silk. A shared resonance. Their mental states briefly aligned, brushing together like wind chimes in the same breeze.
"I… I just did a mind-read," Daisy whispered to herself in stunned awe. "Huh."
Her body felt stretched thin, as if her consciousness had unraveled into noodles. Memories not her own zipped past her faster than she could comprehend. She saw more than she could retain—just flashes, impressions, slivers of past pain and brilliance all tangled together.
"Ah!——" When she jerked back to full consciousness, gasping, her limbs numb and her forehead clammy with sweat, she looked at her watch.
Three hours had passed.
Her head throbbed, brain fogged like a server overheating from too many data dumps. But amid the fatigue, her instincts lit up with new knowledge—bits and pieces of Viper's childhood and young adulthood. It wasn't all pain. There was brilliance too. Complex formulas, rare compounds, sophisticated poison synthesis. Some of them Daisy knows, and some have never seen.
She leaned back, trying to separate memory from madness. A part of her understood that Madame Viper hadn't meant to share all this. But resonance worked both ways. Maybe Viper had been subconsciously reaching out in her feverish state.
What's more, she feels like that Madame Viper had changed. The two of them were enemies before, at most enemies with some transactions. This did not change even after she rescued her.
But now, in Daisy's perception, the two have eliminated some of their hostility. Although they are far from being friends, Madame Viper is no longer so hostile to her.
"It's so uncomfortable!" Her head was swollen and her consciousness was not very clear. She closed her senses to the outside world, and the discomfort gradually improved.
Even more oddly, Daisy noticed something else.
The Viper's fever had lessened. Not dramatically, but enough to be felt.
Whatever it was, the woman's mental state was definitely stabilizing. Daisy kept up her cold compress routine, alternating towels and drips. After hours of tending, the fever finally broke.
Exhausted and hungry, Daisy ducked out for a quick meal and some takeout.
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[ Some Time Later ]
When she returned to the hotel suite, she paused at the bathroom door.
The sound of running water.
Seconds later, Madame Viper stepped out of the steamy bathroom like a goddess—dripping, radiant, and very, very naked.
Daisy blinked. Then blinked again.
"Damn," she muttered under her breath, keeping her cool by sheer force of will. As much as she hated to admit it, the beautiful snake had form. Among all the women she'd seen—herself excluded—only Black Widow might rival this deadly elegance. Maria was plenty gorgeous, and Mariko had a quiet grace, but there was something about Viper's poise that screamed weaponized seduction.
Viper raised a brow. "Back already?"
"I live here too, you know."
"What's this? Planning to give up S.H.I.E.L.D. and join your older sister?" Viper purred, sauntering closer, deliberately not reaching for a towel.
Daisy pushed her back lightly but firmly. If she'd been fresh off the metaphorical boat when she first reincarnated, this kind of display would've fried her brain. Now? Just another Tuesday.
"Put some clothes on. We need to talk."
Viper smirked, swayed over to the dresser, and slipped into a bathrobe like she was performing for a camera.
She reached for a cigarette. "Mind if I smoke?"
Daisy waved her hand dismissively.
"You're not worried it's poisoned?" Viper teased.
"I don't sense any malice. Besides, it's not that easy to poison someone via smoke. Especially not when the cigarettes were clearly store-bought. You didn't bring your toxin toolkit out of the safehouse, remember?"
The corner of Viper's mouth twitched. "Boring." She lit up anyway and took a long drag.
"Alright, what's this about?"
Finally. A fragile thread of trust between them had formed. It wasn't much, but it was more than nothing.
"I want to kill Madame Gao," Daisy said bluntly. "And I need your help."
Viper exhaled slowly, letting the smoke spiral between them. "Madame Gao? That old fossil from the Hand?" Her tone carried a flicker of amusement.
Daisy nodded once. "She's my enemy."
Their exchange was rapid-fire. Precise.
Viper's curiosity piqued. "The Hand doesn't usually pick fights with S.H.I.E.L.D.'s rising stars. What did you do to rattle her dentures?"
Daisy didn't bother explaining everything. Only Maria and Fury knew the full story. But she gave the condensed version.
It all started when Madame Gao decided Daisy was an ant she could squash on her way to whatever nonsense throne she believed in. Problem was, Daisy wasn't an ant. She was a seismic anomaly wrapped in sarcasm and trauma. Daisy conveniently forgets that, it was she who start human trafficking hunting that leads to Madame Gao.
Old Madame Gao was afraid that Daisy would climb higher and higher in SHIELD, so she took action personally this time, hoping to kill her as soon as possible.
"Oh please," Viper cackled, her body shaking with laughter after listening to half of it.. "This sounds like one of those ridiculous novels. 'Don't bully the young and poor' and 'Thirty years in the east, thirty years in the west'." She feels the strong sense of conflict in this story, so she found it funny.
Daisy couldn't help but snort at that one.
"So that's why you joined S.H.I.E.L.D.?" Viper asked with a mocking grin. "To hide from the granny assassin?"
It started as curiosity about the Cosmic Cube. Daisy replied dryly. But sure, let's go with 'fleeing from an old lady.'
Daisy originally just wanted to see the Cosmic Cube, but many people who knew the general course of events, such as Nick Fury and Chief George, all concluded that Daisy joined S.H.I.E.L.D. just to avoid Madame Gao.
Daisy never bothered to correct them.
This imagination is reasonable and no one can find fault with it. She has now admitted this statement.
Viper was laughing so hard that her body was shaking. Daisy could see from the side of her bathrobe that something unspeakable were shaking too. It took a long time for this vicious woman to return to normal.
To Be Continued...
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[POWER STONES AND REVIEWS PLS]