Drex Valen already understood the biggest flaw in the Superman Drug.
Most people died.
But thanks to his microscopic observational abilities, he could identify which candidates had bodies compatible with the formula before administering it.
Back when the organization was still called World Serpent, only a handful of people had successfully taken the drug.
Drex classified them as Tank-Class Superhumans.
Then there were the special candidates:
Blonsky.
Bucky.
Rumlow.
Grant Ward.
Blonsky refused the Superman Drug outright.
As far as he was concerned, becoming the Abomination had already made him unique enough. Besides, even the Tank-Class Superhumans weren't a threat to him.
After thinking it over, Drex accepted the reasoning.
Blonsky wanted to preserve what made him different.
That left the remaining three mbers of what Drex privately referred to as the "Hydra male model squad."
Unfortunately, he still hadn't managed to capture Zemo.
But through Grant Ward, Drex had confird one important thing:
This universe probably wasn't the MCU.
Not the movie continuity, at least.
As for what version of Marvel reality he was actually in, that was another question entirely.
Bucky had previously undergone Hyper Zoanoid modification using the Asura Kabuto model. But for Drex, who could now manipulate atoms well enough to regenerate flesh from bone, reversing the transformation wasn't difficult anymore.
So he restored Bucky's body to normal before giving him the Superman Drug.
The process was agony beyond human imagination.
The Superman Drug rewrote the body from the genetic chain upward. Every cell, every strand of DNA, every biological function was reconstructed.
The pain made childbirth look rciful.
Ordinary people would die screaming long before the process completed.
Only soone with monstrous willpower could survive it.
Bucky did.
When the transformation ended, he erged with a body tougher than steel, overwhelming physical strength, and the ability to project energy blasts.
Ordinary Superman Drug users were significantly weaker and lacked energy projection entirely.
Because of that, Drex created a second classification.
Battleship-Class Superhuman.
A Battleship-Class could kill a Tank-Class effortlessly.
After Bucky's success, Rumlow and Grant Ward underwent the procedure as well.
Both survived.
Both beca Battleship-Class Superhumans.
"The Superman Drug is a lot more appealing than Zoanoids or Hulk serum," Drex said as he studied the three n standing before him.
They wore the new uniforms of the Burning Legion.
Pitch black.
High collars. Long coats. Sharp military lines inspired by old-world elite uniforms, redesigned into sothing colder and more modern.
Silver trim lined the edges.
Every uniform was woven from vibranium fibers durable enough that even the Hulk would struggle to tear them apart.
High-ranking mbers of the Burning Legion all wore them.
As for the Zoanoid program, Drex had largely phased it out.
Turning into grotesque monsters was terrible for public image.
The Burning Legion wasn't supposed to look like a comic-book cult.
Monsters lost style points fast.
And style mattered.
Most forr World Serpent mbers enhanced as Zoanoids had their transformations reversed before being rebuilt into super soldiers instead.
The super soldier program was basically a weakened, incomplete version of the Superman Drug.
Even so, it was likely superior to Erskine's original Super Soldier Serum. Without his shield, Captain Arica probably wouldn't beat one of the Burning Legion's elite super soldiers in a straight fight.
A few people remained exceptions.
Dr. Connors, the Lizard, continued handling biological research. Since combat wasn't his primary role, Drex allowed him to keep his Zoanoid enhancents.
Ivan Vanko and Anton Vanko, forrly Zoanoids themselves, had already been rebuilt into super soldiers. Their strength, speed, durability, and regeneration far surpassed normal humans.
Norman Osborn technically wasn't part of the Burning Legion yet since he still operated within Oscorp, so Drex left him alone.
Black Tank, Colossus, and Iron Man all had mutant physiology or their own systems of enhancent, making further modification unnecessary.
The symbiote Roar served as commander of the Legion's special forces division. Since it was already performing exceptionally well, Drex saw no reason to alter it.
Luke Cage, the Assimilator, had been offered the choice personally.
He chose to keep his X-gene mutation.
After turning himself into a "Vibranium Man," Luke had fully embraced the advantages of that body. Injury had practically beco irrelevant to him.
And Cain Marko, the Juggernaut, obviously didn't need additional upgrades.
The artificial humans Drex had created himself, Android 18, Hercules, Esdeath, and Tifa, were all beyond the need for enhancent as well.
That left the Burning Legion's hierarchy crystal clear.
At the very top stood the executives and Battleship-Class Superhumans.
Below them ca the Tank-Class.
Then the super soldiers.
And finally, the ordinary unenhanced personnel at the bottom.
In theory, Drex could have cloned the successful Tank-Class subjects and mass-produced armies of Battleship-Class Superhumans.
But he still rembered the Ancient One interfering the last ti he tried to create a Hulk army.
If the Superman Corps exploded in scale too quickly, there was a very good chance she would intervene again.
For now, things would stay limited.
Earth already had no real opposition capable of threatening the Burning Legion anyway.
Sooner or later, they would leave the planet behind and expand into space.
Once the upgrades were complete, so mbers of the Burning Legion openly registered with S.W.O.R.D. as superheroes.
Others beca S.W.O.R.D. agents.
At the sa ti, Drex continued cultivating symbiotes.
A super soldier equipped with symbiote armor could probably defeat most Marvel superheroes and supervillains already walking the planet.
Then the Vampire Carnival began.
After ten at night, New York's ergency lines collapsed under the flood of calls.
Violent assaults.
Murders.
Disappearances.
The police were drowning in incidents before S.W.O.R.D. stepped in.
Hellfront Task Force units entered the city first, and their experience fighting monsters imdiately showed results.
The vampires took catastrophic losses.
Their weapons weren't conventional silver rounds.
They carried ultraviolet beam rifles capable of firing concentrated UV radiation directly at targets.
Pureblood or mixed-blood, powerful or weak, it didn't matter.
A direct hit ant death.
anwhile, S.W.O.R.D. agents who looked comparatively fragile drew atomic pistols and laser weapons.
Their defense might not compare to armored superhumans, but their firepower was terrifying.
Any vampire struck by an atomic pistol simply disintegrated into ash before regeneration could even begin.
Inside S.W.O.R.D. headquarters, Black Widow, Tony Stark, and Nick Fury sat around a tactical table while the city spiraled deeper into chaos.
"The whole city's turning into a war zone," Tony said.
"And Drex Valen is nowhere to be found."
Black Widow crossed her arms.
"He also refused to order a civilian evacuation," she said. "According to him, we're supposed to handle this ourselves."
The room fell quiet.
Outside, New York burned under neon lights and ultraviolet fire.
The carnival had only just begun.
User Comments
0 comments from readers