Before Cain Marko could even react, Blonsky's rapidly increasing strength exploded upward.
A brutal knee strike launched Juggernaut off the ground.
Then ca the right hook.
The punch slamd into Cain's face with well over a hundred tons of force behind it.
Even with his absurd indestructibility, Cain still got sent flying across the laboratory like a wrecking ball. He crashed through reinforced equipnt and smashed into a steel wall hard enough to shake the entire chamber.
But there wasn't a drop of blood.
Blonsky flexed his shattered fist and spat to the side.
"You really are one stubborn brick wall."
The bone spikes coating his knuckles had completely splintered from the impact, while Cain climbed back to his feet without a scratch.
Honestly, this was exactly why Blonsky hated the mutants Drex created.
Their powers made no damn sense.
His damaged hand rapidly regenerated. Even without the Extremis Virus, his recovery speed was still monstrous.
Cain refused to back down.
From what he could tell, Blonsky wasn't capable of actually injuring him anyway.
Blonsky, anwhile, could feel the absorbed kinetic energy amplifying his body further and further. Now that his raw strength had caught up to Cain's, controlling the fight beca much easier.
The next few seconds turned into a lesson.
A painful one.
Blonsky suddenly shifted stance, caught Cain's arm, and dragged him violently into a grappling hold before wrenching the joint backward with terrifying force.
CRACK.
Cain roared in agony as his arm snapped.
"Your body might be indestructible," Blonsky said coldly as he stood over him, "but your joints clearly aren't."
Cain clutched the ruined limb and howled.
Drex Valen watched the scene for a while before realizing sothing important.
"Blonsky," he said casually, "put the arm back. He doesn't have regenerative abilities."
Blonsky paused.
That actually surprised him.
A body this absurdly durable… without regeneration?
That ant Juggernaut did, technically, have a weakness.
Of course, exploiting it required soone strong enough to hurt him in the first place, which already eliminated most of humanity.
As for Drex?
Indestructibility ant very little to him.
His attacks could penetrate down to the atomic and energetic level. At that scale, concepts like "unbreakable" beca aningless. Everything had gaps.
After Cain's arm was reset, Drex handed him a new outfit modeled after the classic comic version of Juggernaut.
Cain stared at himself in silence.
Then he looked up slowly.
"What the hell is this?"
The red armored vest was one thing.
The massive do-shaped crimson helt sitting over his head was another entirely. It looked less like battle gear and more like soone had flipped an industrial furnace upside down and called it fashion.
"This helt protects you from telepaths," Drex explained. "Your mutation makes you physically dangerous, but against a powerful psychic, you're basically an infant."
Unknown to Cain, Drex had already implanted a Thought Wave command during the activation of his mutation.
Controlling him would be effortless.
"Telepaths?" Cain frowned.
"Like this."
Drex activated the Thought Wave inside Cain's mind.
Instantly, Juggernaut collapsed to the floor.
His own fists slamd violently into his body as though controlled by invisible strings.
Cain's pupils contracted in terror.
He couldn't stop.
No matter how hard he struggled, his body ignored him completely. It felt as if sothing else had stepped into his nervous system and taken ownership.
For the first ti since gaining his powers, Cain experienced genuine fear.
Only after Drex released the ntal control did Cain regain command of his body.
He staggered upright, drenched in sweat.
Until now, Cain had assud Drex was simply the leader of Jormungandr. Strong, maybe. Important, definitely.
But this?
This was sothing else entirely.
The gap between them felt bottomless.
If Drex wanted him dead, he'd never even get the chance to fight back.
And that horrifying sense of helplessness?
Cain never wanted to experience it again.
Drex, on the other hand, was in an excellent mood.
Another high-level powerhouse had joined his growing roster.
"Blonsky," he said, already turning to leave, "he's your responsibility now. Train him. Keep him under control."
Blonsky nodded before leading Cain out of the laboratory.
anwhile, Drex returned to the company headquarters.
The mont he arrived, Urd ca straight to his office.
"Drex," she said flatly, "one of the orphans you sponsor, Pietro, has been reported by his teachers over a hundred tis. And lately he hasn't been going to school at all."
Normally, issues like this would never reach Drex personally.
Urd could handle them herself.
Especially now.
Pepper Potts had already been recruited away from Stark Industries, and Natasha Romanoff had returned to work after finishing an urgent assignnt. With both won helping manage operations, Urd's workload had beco dramatically lighter.
But things were different now.
Her relationship with Drex had changed, and she felt this situation deserved his attention.
"Pietro?" Drex nodded thoughtfully. "Still acting out, huh?"
Truthfully, he'd never placed much importance on Pietro Maximoff himself.
Super speed was useful, but Pietro was nowhere near soone like the Flash. Drex could kill him with a thought if necessary.
Wanda, however, was different.
Wanda Maximoff mattered.
Chaos Magic possessed terrifying potential. Once Drex obtained the Mind Stone and properly awakened Wanda's abilities, she would imdiately beco one of Jormungandr's top-tier assets.
A true T0-level existence.
Because of that, Drex had largely ignored Pietro's behavior until now, despite monitoring him through the Black Queen.
Apparently the situation had finally reached the point where intervention was necessary.
"Drex," Urd asked curiously, "why are you investing so much into those kids?"
And more importantly, he seed genuinely serious about educating Pietro.
Part of her couldn't help wondering whether Drex was secretly playing so long-term cultivation ga.
Jessica Campbell.
Wanda.
Now Emma.
Every girl he brought in seed destined to beco stunning once they grew older.
But despite all the opportunities surrounding him, Drex had never shown the habits most billionaires indulged in. Unlike Tony Stark, he didn't surround himself with models or party girls.
Given Drex's wealth and appearance, he didn't even need to pursue them. They practically lined up voluntarily.
Urd had personally screened countless calls from aspiring models trying to reach him.
At first she'd forwarded them.
Drex told her to stop.
Eventually, so of them started waiting outside the company building hoping to catch him in person.
Unfortunately for them, Drex barely left the building in the first place.
"I invested in them because they're worth investing in," Drex replied calmly. "You don't need the full explanation yet."
Urd looked unconvinced, but eventually nodded.
"Fine."
After she left the office, Drex imdiately contacted Blonsky through the Thought Wave network.
"Blonsky. Take so people and grab Pietro."
Blonsky blinked.
"The kid?"
"Lock him in solitary confinent," Drex continued casually. "Beat him eight tis a day. Don't kill him. One al daily."
Drex considered himself highly experienced when it ca to education.
After all, Tony Stark had beco significantly more productive ever since Drex "corrected" him. Instead of drowning himself in parties and won, Stark now spent most of his ti developing Iron Man armor.
"Just make sure Pietro never learns who grabbed him," Drex added.
Then he cut the connection.
Blonsky scratched his head.
"What the hell did that kid do to piss off the boss?"
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