The current Emil Blonsky could tear apart three versions of his forr self without breaking a sweat.
His regeneration was weaker now that the Extremis Virus had been removed, and he'd lost the long-range thermal beam attacks that once ca with it, but every other aspect of him had evolved far beyond what he used to be.
"Base strength is already around one hundred and fifty tons," Drex Valen said as he observed the transford Abomination. "And once kinetic absorption kicks in, it only keeps climbing."
He was extrely satisfied with the result.
At this point, Blonsky could fight either the Green Hulk or Red Hulk head-on without any real disadvantage.
The only major threat was Red Hulk's heat output. That kind of thermal attack might still overwhelm him.
But against Green Hulk?
Drex suspected Banner would spend the entire fight getting ragdolled.
Still, Blonsky wasn't the only pleasant surprise today.
Drex had also found Juggernaut.
A lot of people mistakenly believed Juggernaut was a mutant, but that had never been true in the comics. The real Juggernaut drew his power from Cyttorak, an elder god whose mystical crimson gem granted imnse magical strength to whoever touched it.
That power had allowed Juggernaut to smash through skyscrapers, survive impossible punishnt, and beco an unstoppable force once he gained montum. Cyttorak's magic granted him nearly limitless stamina and absurd durability. He could tank hits from Thor, ignore Wolverine's adamantium claws, and bulldoze through almost anything in his path.
Unfortunately, the version Drex found wasn't that Juggernaut.
This one hadn't inherited Cyttorak's magic.
He was just a mutant.
A very large mutant.
Cain Marko.
Height: 287 centiters.
Weight: 862 kilograms.
A violent criminal serving multiple life sentences after repeated ard robberies. Total sentence length: one hundred and seventy years.
Naturally, Cain had no intention of rotting in prison forever.
He'd attempted escape after escape, each one ending in failure. Eventually, with no options left and no hope remaining, a shadow had approached him with an offer.
And Cain had accepted.
Even without Cyttorak's magic, the mutant version of Juggernaut was still terrifyingly powerful.
"I…" Cain stared at his own hands, feeling the explosive force surging through his body.
"Your ability is unusual, Cain Marko," Drex said, genuinely intrigued. "Out of every mutant I've encountered so far, you rank among the highest tier."
"Mutant?"
The term ant nothing to Cain.
To be fair, Drex was still one of the only people using it. The concept hadn't spread into public awareness yet.
"I discovered a genetic anomaly hidden within humanity," Drex explained. "Roughly one person in a thousand carries it. I call it the X-Gene. The unknown factor. You're one of them."
Cain only understood about half of that, but it sounded important enough.
"So I'm a mutant now?"
"You always were." Drex nodded. "Your X-Gene is significantly stronger than most I've collected or observed. It gave you an indestructible body and monstrous physical strength. Honestly, the sheer absurdity of it fits mutants perfectly."
Drex found Cain's mutation fascinating.
The first trait was simple to describe and impossible to explain:
Indestructibility.
Juggernaut could ignore most forms of physical damage entirely. Drex even suspected that high-frequency blades, weapons theoretically capable of cutting through almost anything, might fail against him.
And yet Cain's molecular structure remained completely ordinary.
He hadn't transford into so exotic tal or vibranium-like material.
His body simply refused to break.
As for strength?
That part mattered less to Drex.
A starting point of two hundred tons was impressive by human standards, but Green Hulk, Red Hulk, and Blonsky could surpass that level easily.
"You a mutant too?" Cain asked.
"No," Drex answered calmly. "I'm not."
Cain flexed his massive hands.
The sensation flooding through his muscles was intoxicating. He felt stronger than he ever imagined possible.
And with power like this, why would he obey anyone?
He turned toward the exit.
"Where do you think you're going?" Drex asked.
"You can't control ," Cain said coldly. "But I'm not looking for trouble either. So stay out of my way."
"That's not how this works."
Drex glanced sideways.
"Blonsky. Show the newcor how Jormungandr handles things."
Truthfully, Drex was curious.
He wanted to know whether the newly evolved Blonsky could overpower this version of Juggernaut.
Cain imdiately looked toward the towering monster standing nearby.
Blonsky rolled his shoulders and cracked his neck.
He'd been looking for an opportunity to test his new form properly. None of the regular personnel could survive sparring with him, and Esdeath was off-limits for obvious reasons.
Now?
Now soone had delivered him a perfect punching bag.
Blonsky's body expanded further, swelling until he matched Cain's massive height.
Cain's expression darkened.
"What an ugly bastard…"
Then Blonsky charged.
Cain didn't retreat.
Back in prison, he'd survived countless fights through sheer stubborn brutality. Size and muscle were just bonuses.
The collision hit like artillery.
BOOM.
The air exploded outward as the two giants slamd into each other. A violent shockwave ripped through the laboratory, wrecking instrunts and shattering reinforced equipnt across the room.
Drex didn't care.
Electromagnetic manipulation made repairs trivial.
The two monsters launched into a savage close-quarters brawl.
Cain's body truly lived up to the word indestructible. Blonsky smashed a fist into his face hard enough to crater concrete, but Cain only staggered slightly before firing back with a punch that drove Blonsky several steps backward.
Then Blonsky's kinetic absorption activated.
After taking a two-hundred-ton punch, his body beca even stronger.
When it ca to actual combat skill, Cain was nowhere near Blonsky's level.
Worse, Blonsky was intimately familiar with dirty street-fight tactics. He'd lived through plenty himself.
At the beginning of the fight, Cain's raw physical superiority allowed him to gain the upper hand.
But once the exchange turned technical, Blonsky completely took control.
Even though he couldn't truly injure Cain, the pressure alone forced Juggernaut to realize how dangerous his opponent really was.
Blonsky suddenly shifted grips and slamd Cain into the floor with a brutal joint lock.
Since direct damage wasn't working, he changed strategies imdiately.
If Cain's skin and muscles were indestructible, that didn't necessarily an his joints or internal organs were.
Pain flashed across Cain's face.
Then his monstrous strength erupted.
With a violent surge, he hurled Blonsky off him, rolled over, and mounted him instantly.
Both fists ca crashing down in a relentless barrage.
Left.
Right.
Left.
Right.
The floor trembled beneath every impact.
And with every punch Blonsky absorbed, his body only grew stronger.
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