"You're saying… super soldier serum?"
Nick Fury stopped cold.
That possibility was even more unbelievable than anything he had imagined.
Then again, this was Drex Valen they were talking about.
With the kind of genius Drex possessed, maybe it really wasn't impossible.
Natasha let out a quiet breath.
"It might not even be the Captain Arica version."
Fury looked toward her sharply.
"It could be sothing more stable. More advanced."
A faint sense of exhaustion crept into Natasha's voice.
Great.
So she was obsolete now?
An outdated model.
Fury's lone eye sharpened imdiately.
More stable.
More powerful.
He knew the flaws of the original super soldier serum all too well. Good people beca better. Bad people beca worse. And beyond that, the success rate was abysmal.
Even after obtaining fragnts of the original data and samples, the United States had burned hundreds of billions of dollars over the decades without producing a truly stable result.
General Ross's serum enhancent program had already been considered Arica's most successful incomplete replica so far.
And even that carried terrible risks.
"With Drex Valen's intelligence," Natasha continued, "there's a good chance he perfected super soldier technology a long ti ago."
She paused briefly.
"He just chose not to sell it."
Then her thoughts drifted sowhere dramatically less strategic.
Her shopping debt.
The stuff she had bought from Blade Technologies was expensive enough already. Without next month's salary, she'd be paying it off for years on a S.H.I.E.L.D. paycheck.
Fury returned to the Helicarrier deep in thought.
He hadn't even managed to sit down before Coulson delivered a bombshell.
"Sir… there's breaking news."
Fury's hand froze halfway toward a donut.
"Drex Valen has legally registered a new organization."
Coulson's expression turned strange.
"It's called the Superhero Association."
Silence.
"The chairman," Coulson added carefully, "is officially listed as the Dark Knight."
Fury stared at him.
Then Coulson delivered the killing blow.
"The Association is publicly calling for anyone with special abilities to join and beco registered superheroes who protect society during crises."
Nick Fury was stunned.
"How is he allowed to do this?!"
Honestly, Fury had always assud this kind of flashy, attention-hungry move was sothing only Tony Stark would pull.
Instead, Drex had beaten Tony to it.
And right on cue, Tony Stark imdiately held a press conference announcing himself as the first official mber of the Superhero Association.
Within hours, the entire country exploded.
The Superhero Association beca the hottest topic in Arica overnight.
Mutants.
Enhanced humans.
Tech-based vigilantes.
People transford through accidents or experints.
Countless individuals suddenly felt seen.
"If you want to beco a superhero," the advertisents declared, "join the Superhero Association!"
Nick Fury developed a migraine almost instantly.
Tony Stark causing trouble was already bad enough.
But Tony plus Drex?
That wasn't two rich n anymore.
That was an economic superpower.
Even if superhero activity had previously existed in a legal gray zone, overwhelming capital influence could force legitimacy into existence.
And public opinion was entirely on their side.
The Deep Sea invasion had happened only days earlier.
At the mont, public support for superheroes had reached an all-ti high.
The military and police were being mocked relentlessly online and across major news networks.
People believed New York would have fallen completely if not for the superheroes.
Military leadership spent every day holding damage-control press conferences trying desperately to salvage credibility.
Police departnts reacted too.
Case resolution rates suddenly began climbing at absurd speeds.
Nobody wanted budget cuts.
Nobody wanted superheroes replacing them.
Street-level vigilantes used to get arrested for interfering with police operations.
Not anymore.
Now, any hero officially registered with the Superhero Association effectively carried the protection of Blade Technologies and Stark Industries behind them.
And Drex Valen's public reputation was ridiculously strong.
Despite rarely appearing publicly, his inventions had improved millions of lives.
He funded charities.
Provided free dical examinations.
Supported educational initiatives.
At this point, Drex had already collected nearly one hundred million X-Gene and Inhuman genetic samples through those dical programs alone.
And since Drex himself served as the legal representative of the Association, everything was airtight.
After all, he didn't pay entire armies of lawyers for decoration.
"So explain this to again."
Tony Stark pointed at the screen with visible outrage.
"Why am I only an A-Class hero?"
Drex barely looked up.
"Because unless you can reach the level of tal Knight, Drive Knight, or the legendary Demon Cyborg…"
He clicked another file shut.
"You're A-Class."
Tony blinked.
"…Who the hell is tal Knight?"
Once the Superhero Association officially launched, applications flooded in almost imdiately.
Drex reviewed them one by one.
When Reed Richards's application appeared, Drex hesitated.
Should he reject it?
Reed Richards had an astonishing habit of causing catastrophic disasters whenever things beca important. Worse, the man was nearly impossible to permanently eliminate.
Drex wasn't afraid of Reed personally.
He was afraid Reed would accidentally destroy the Association itself.
Rejected.
Simple solution.
The others, however, were acceptable.
"Drex," Tony asked curiously, "what happened to your suit?"
"It's not a suit," Drex corrected flatly.
"It's armor."
Without pause, he approved Susan Storm as an A-Class hero.
Johnny Storm beca B-Class.
Ben Grimm received S-Class imdiately.
Tony happened to glance over at exactly the wrong mont.
"Hold on."
He pointed at Ben's file.
"Why does the giant rock get S-Class?!"
Drex answered without hesitation.
"Because he can flatten you."
Completely reasonable logic.
In One Punch Man terms, Ben Grimm would probably qualify closer to a monster than a traditional hero, but his raw combat strength easily surpassed heroes like Tanktop Master or Puri-Puri Prisoner.
S-Class fit him perfectly.
As for Spider-Woman and Venom, Drex assigned them B-Class and A-Class respectively.
Under Drex's managent, every registered superhero in the Association received an official salary.
Sure, so people argued that paying heroes sohow cheapened the spirit of heroism.
Drex disagreed completely.
People liked money.
Eventually, they'd all realize that too.
Finally, there was the Association headquarters itself.
Drex deliberately chose Manhattan, New York.
Right where the Chitauri invasion would eventually arrive.
By then…
The Superhero Association should be strong enough to crush the Chitauri outright.
One month later, a massive skyscraper appeared in Manhattan.
The building was impossible to miss.
Because the words SUPERHERO ASSOCIATION were displayed across the exterior in gigantic lettering so arrogant it practically radiated ego into the skyline itself.
...
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