[ Some Island in Costa Rica ]
Daisy darted around behind Dr. Eggman's mountainous heel, her eyes narrowing with mischief. She summoned her powers into her palm and struck with a loud cry: "Heart-Destroying Palm!"
Yes, she yelled it out loud.
Yes, she felt ridiculous doing it.
But in her defense, it wasn't about theatrics—it was about impressing Dr. Pym, who she noticed had a soft spot for flashy names and dramatic flair. Besides, if she was going to fight a human skyscraper in a lab coat, she might as well go full martial arts movie.
Her palm strike hit home. Through her vibrational sense, Daisy could feel it—cells rupturing, misaligned like a jigsaw puzzle that had been drunkenly assembled. Dr. Eggman's structure was all wrong, like a half-loaded 3D printer. Worse, something alien—something otherworldly—was fueling his regeneration. The Pym particles weren't just science. They were borrowing mass from somewhere else.
"Get off me, you pest!" Dr. Eggman growled, swiping at her with a hand roughly the size of a small car.
Air resistance slowed his slap like he was underwater. Daisy used the momentum of a nearby rock to vault herself into the air, landing acrobatically on the back of his hand.
Then she punched.
Boom. Her vibrational blast rippled through his tissues, snapping connections like spaghetti noodles and turning internals to mush. A purple bruise bloomed on the skin where her power landed. And more importantly, Eggman's nerves were scrambled—he couldn't even feel that part of his hand anymore.
Eggman tried to hurl her off, but when his brain sent the signal to move, the arm refused to answer. He blinked in confusion.
Daisy grinned.
One somersault and a dramatic landing later, she was back at his feet. Time to tenderize those ankles.
With every strike, she called out her moves. "Tiger-Crane Double Form Fist!" "Through Arm Fist!" It was like a one-woman kung-fu radio show.
Dr. Pym, watching with wide eyes and open mouth, was utterly convinced she was a master of lost Eastern martial arts. If she'd claimed she trained under a Himalayan kung-fu panda, he probably would've believed her.
Finally, after a dozen circles and more made-up move names than a bad dub of a 70s action flick, Eggman crumpled like a broken vending machine, collapsing into a tree-flattening belly flop. Green mist of crushed foliage puffed up like cartoon dust.
Daisy didn't finish him off. One, she didn't want to terrify old Pym with the full scope of her powers. Two, a dead Eggman meant autopsies. Autopsies meant questions. Questions meant unwanted attention. And three—well, it felt wrong to kill someone who looked like a disgraced children's science show host.
"Doc," she called over her shoulder, helping the slightly-shaken old man to his feet. "Can we shrink this guy down? SHIELD's gonna want receipts."
Dr. Pym grunted and fiddled with the helmet. A blue switch—boop—and whoosh! Eggman deflated like a party balloon, collapsing back into regular nerd size.
His lab coat? Also shrank.
Daisy stared at the fabric. "Okay, what is this, stretchy cotton quantum blend?"
Just then, Black Widow made her dramatic entrance—emerging from the smoking ruins of the lab with bloodied gauntlets and a nonchalant shrug. "Cleaned house. You're welcome."
Behind her, Hill walked up, trying to hide her admiration with professional coolness.
"You did well," Maria said, eyes briefly meeting Daisy's before darting away. "Very... kung fu."
"Thanks," Daisy replied, her voice a bit softer than usual. "Just a little... heart-destroying teamwork."
Maria smiled slightly. Daisy's heart stuttered. Yep. Awkward.
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[ On The Quinjet ]
Eggman was loaded into the Quinjet like oversized luggage. One transport headed for the SHIELD black site. The other carried our tired, slightly flirty heroes back to Washington.
While Widow filed her mission report, Dr. Pym had a one-on-one with Nicky Fury. The moment he ended the call, he turned to Daisy with narrowed eyes.
"So, you want to study quantum physics?" he asked, skeptical. "That's a weird hobby for an agent. I've met a lot of people over the years... and not many agents want to touch theoretical physics with a ten-foot pole. You're either really smart, or SHIELD's trying to play a long con."
The others leaned in, ears perked like gossip-hungry meerkats. Even Hill looked amused.
Daisy raised an eyebrow. "What can I say? I like my particles like I like my relationships... unstable, uncertain, and a little bit entangled."
Maria choked on a laugh and quickly turned it into a cough.
Dr. Pym squinted suspiciously. "Is that... flirtation or science?"
Daisy gave him a wink. "Yes."
To be continued...
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[ POWER STONES AND REVIEWS PLS ]