Unfortunately, only one beast soldier successfully adapted to the Colossus-style mutant gene.
Every other mber of World Serpent either suffered catastrophic rejection or showed no reaction at all.
Drex Valen refused to believe there could only ever be one Colossus.
The more likely explanation was compatibility.
Genetic matching rates were simply too low.
Which ant another layer of biological screening would need to be added.
Still, even this single success was remarkable.
The beast soldier version of Colossus was likely much stronger than the original mutant himself. Drex had already extracted samples of the biological tal from his body and begun researching ways to reproduce it artificially.
Then there was Emil Blonsky.
Drex fully intended to turn him into Abomination eventually.
A hyper beast soldier enhanced further with Abomination-level power...
That combination should beco terrifying.
Though there was one variable.
Blonsky's transformation in the films had been influenced by the excessive amount of Super Soldier Serum already in his system. This version of Blonsky looked roughly the sa as the movie incarnation, just older and harder around the edges after spending most of his life crawling through battlefields.
So Drex suspected the hyper beast soldier modifications might alter the final result.
Possibly dramatically.
After instructing Urd to expand the free dical examination campaign into even more countries, she imdiately began contacting foreign governnts.
anwhile, Drex's superhuman project discovered another pair of targets.
The first major target in the project archives had been Jessica Campbell.
Now the Black Queen had identified two more.
Wanda Maximoff.
Pietro Maximoff.
In universes without mutants, Wanda and Pietro's powers were generally treated as abilities awakened by the Mind Stone. At least, that was how the cinematic version worked.
That was why Drex had placed them on the target list in the first place.
The archive also included other enhanced individuals like Quake. Luke Cage still had not been located, though Drex suspected he might not even have left prison yet.
At the mont, Wanda and Pietro were still in Sokovia.
They had not yet volunteered for Baron Strucker's experints.
Once Drex gave approval, the Black Queen imdiately dispatched beast soldiers to retrieve them.
Using supersonic aircraft secretly developed by Drex, the operatives completed the round trip with absurd speed. National air defense systems never even noticed them.
The beast soldiers took imnse pride in the organization's technological superiority.
So of them privately wondered why their boss had not simply conquered the world already.
Wanda and Pietro had very little say in the matter.
One mont they were in Sokovia.
The next, they were standing inside Blade Tech Industries staring at an absurdly handso man.
His status as the world's largest weapons manufacturer sohow beca secondary the instant they saw his face.
"Relax," Drex said with a faint smile. "I'm not going to hurt you."
Wanda, ntally mature far beyond her age, imdiately blushed.
Pietro had no such reaction.
"You had us kidnapped," Pietro said flatly. "And now you're saying you won't hurt us?"
"Pietro," Wanda whispered, tugging at his sleeve.
Partly out of worry.
Partly because she did not want him sounding so aggressive.
"It's fine," Drex said casually. "I just want you two to join my company. I'll cover your education and living expenses until you're adults."
After that, he let Urd handle the conversation.
Ironically, Pietro beca much easier to deal with once she entered the room.
Urd herself was deeply confused.
Why exactly had Drex brought back two underage Sokovian teenagers?
Was this so type of personal preference?
To be fair, Wanda was already strikingly beautiful, even younger than the version most people would later know.
Still, she noticed sothing strange.
Drex's gaze never lingered on her for very long.
Apparently she simply was not his type.
Drex clearly preferred mature won. Elegant older won. Dangerous won with curves sharp enough to start wars.
Wanda, at the mont, was still too young.
Probably underfed, too.
After talking for a while, the twins realized Drex did not seem openly hostile. The abduction was still deeply suspicious, but after a full dical examination, he simply handed them over to Urd to arrange Arican citizenship paperwork and school enrollnt.
The whole thing felt unreal.
Did people like this actually exist?
And if they did...
Why help them specifically?
Drex, anwhile, had already rushed into the laboratory with their genetic samples.
Dr. Connors assisted him from the side.
At this point, the scientist was honestly horrified by Drex's growth speed.
When they first t, Drex had barely qualified as a laboratory assistant.
Not even a frontline one.
A few days later, Connors found himself struggling just to keep up while assisting Drex instead.
And every single ti, Drex sohow produced biological samples that completely shattered his understanding of genetics.
Even the beast soldiers were beginning to drift far outside the limits of earthly biology.
After analyzing Wanda and Pietro's DNA, Drex discovered sothing unexpected.
They did not possess mutant genes.
Instead, they carried yet another entirely unfamiliar genetic structure.
"How many special gene systems does this planet actually have?" Drex muttered.
At this point, Earth probably also had Skrulls and Asgardians walking around sowhere. Maybe he could collect samples from them too eventually.
At the sa ti, Drex had already begun researching cloning technology.
Progress was coming quickly.
The initial blueprints were already complete and handed over to the Black Queen for construction.
"I'm currently in Brooklyn!" the field reporter shouted into the cara while crouching behind a vehicle.
"Bank robbers are in an active firefight with the police! Their firepower is insane. Officers can barely return fire!"
The reporter from New York Daily News was risking his life for the live broadcast.
Mostly because his editor had promised him three extra months of salary if he landed this exclusive.
And the Daily Bugle had sent reporters too.
Apparently, if those lunatics working under J. Jonah Jason could risk getting shot for a headline, everyone else felt obligated to compete.
Police officers hid behind patrol cars while automatic rifle fire tore chunks out of the street around them.
The robbers were absurdly well-ard.
Most carried 7.62mm assault rifles.
One giant of a man wielded an AA-12 automatic shotgun, blasting away so violently that even hiding behind police vehicles no longer felt safe.
Several officers were already dead.
Others were bleeding on the pavent.
The gang had co from South Africa.
Their goal was simple.
Steal fifty million dollars from the bank and disappear forever.
At the height of the chaos, soone suddenly noticed a streak of fire descending from the sky.
At first it looked like a missile.
Then people realized it was a man.
A black armored figure dropped toward the battlefield trailing rocket-like exhaust behind him.
The armor was smooth and dark as polished obsidian.
A War Machine.
No.
Sothing else.
Across the chest, engraved into the armor itself, were two words.
Dark Knight.
The robbers did not waste ti analyzing details.
The mont they saw armored military hardware approaching, they imdiately aid their weapons at it.
Drex Valen landed heavily on the street.
A black cape extended from the armor's shoulders, billowing behind him in the wind.
Then he started walking toward the gunn.
User Comments
0 comments from readers