"Those visitors?" Blonsky frowned, thinking back. "I heard about that. The base was attacked about a month ago. From what I was told, it took a tremendous effort to put the situation down."
"It did," Ross admitted. "We lost the combat effectiveness of two entire companies."
There was no grief in his voice when he spoke of the casualties.
Only satisfaction.
"But compared to what we gained..."
"It was worth it."
Ross continued.
"There were twenty-three attackers. Only three of them were ordinary humans. The remaining twenty had all undergone artificial enhancement."
"They were super soldiers."
Blonsky nodded slowly.
"That’s how they crippled two companies?"
"Exactly."
Ross’s eyes gleamed.
"Their physical capabilities exceeded normal human limits by a wide margin. They could wield weapons that no conventional infantryman could even carry."
Blonsky finally began piecing it together.
"So their bodies inspired the improvements to your Super Soldier Program."
"More or less."
Ross’s expression darkened.
"We eliminated every one of them."
"But before I could properly study the bodies, a pack of bureaucratic thieves tricked me out of them."
The memory still infuriated him.
Nick Fury had walked away with every corpse.
Technically, S.H.I.E.L.D. had jurisdiction over incidents like this. Ross had been the one exceeding his authority by trying to keep the bodies, leaving him with no legitimate complaint to bring before the World Security Council.
He’d simply had to swallow the loss.
Fortunately, the officer commanding the base had possessed enough foresight to hedge his bets.
"The bodies were gone," Ross said, his mood improving slightly, "but he’d already preserved fragments of damaged organs."
The enhanced soldiers had been killed by 30mm autocannon fire.
The shells had shredded flesh and scattered internal organs across the battlefield.
S.H.I.E.L.D. had taken the corpses.
The tissue fragments remained.
Ross smiled.
"Our researchers extracted cellular tissue samples from those remains."
"Unfortunately, whoever engineered those soldiers made sure their true secret couldn’t be reverse-engineered. Our scientists still haven’t identified the source of their mutations."
"But..."
His eyes lit with excitement.
"I’m not one of those timid scientists."
"They wanted endless safety testing."
"I injected the tissue samples directly into animals."
"And every single subject exhibited dramatic improvements in physical performance."
Blonsky stared at him.
"So you’re planning to inject me with the same material."
Ross shook his head.
"That’s only the first step."
"The Super Soldier Program has always failed for the same reason."
"The enhancement is simply too much for an ordinary body to survive."
"But if these tissue samples strengthen the body first..."
"...the recipient becomes capable of enduring the serum’s side effects."
Ross stopped walking and looked directly at him.
"Major Blonsky."
"Will you volunteer?"
"You’ll gain power beyond anything you’ve imagined."
"Perhaps..."
"...even greater than Captain America."
The name alone carried weight.
Steve Rogers remained the military’s greatest legend.
His courage inspired soldiers.
His strength inspired dreamers.
To surpass Captain America...
For a career soldier, there was no greater temptation.
"I’ll do it."
Blonsky answered without hesitation.
He wanted another chance.
He wanted revenge for Brazil.
Most of all, he wanted power.
Power enough to stand above Captain America himself.
Ross smiled and placed a hand on his shoulder.
"Then come with me."
"You’ll have exactly what you’ve been searching for."
Two days later...
New York City.
Evenson lounged behind the counter of his shop, idly watching television when the phone rang.
He picked it up.
"Evenson Richter speaking."
"...Director Fury?"
"I’m surprised you actually have time to call me."
Nick Fury’s voice came through the receiver.
"How’s the car?"
Evenson glanced through the front window.
"Still in one piece."
"People have even stopped taking pictures with it."
"Now tell me why you’re calling. You never waste time on small talk."
Fury got straight to the point.
"I heard about your run-in with Justin Hammer."
"I’m pleased with how you handled it."
So S.H.I.E.L.D. had already learned everything.
More importantly, Fury appreciated that Evenson had restrained himself instead of unleashing magic in broad daylight.
"So?"
Evenson asked.
"Am I getting a bonus?"
Fury gave a dry chuckle.
"Hammer’s business has plenty of skeletons in the closet."
"I’ve instructed some people to start examining his operations."
"He’ll be too busy cleaning up his own mess to bother you again."
Hammer survived by operating in legal gray zones.
Normally, influential politicians kept those activities protected.
S.H.I.E.L.D. rarely interfered.
But once the agency began digging, every hidden deal suddenly became a liability.
Hammer had no choice but to bury evidence, call in favors, and desperately plug every leak before someone else decided he was more useful as a scapegoat than as a contractor.
"And?"
Evenson prompted again.
He refused to believe Fury had called merely to announce he’d solved a nuisance.
Fury’s tone became noticeably more serious.
"If Hammer leaves you alone..."
"...I don’t want to hear that he suddenly dies in an unfortunate accident."
"You understand me?"
"I understand."
Evenson smiled faintly.
"I won’t kill him."
If somebody else does it, he added silently, that’s hardly my responsibility.
"Good."
Fury seemed satisfied.
"One more thing."
"Do you hear what’s happening outside?"
"I noticed it a while ago."
Today’s New York felt... different.
The city’s usual noise masked most of it, but if he focused, he could still make out distant gunfire and occasional explosions echoing across the boroughs.
"They’re far away, aren’t they?" Fury asked.
"Very."
"If I weren’t paying attention, I’d probably miss them."
"That’s Ross."
"His people are conducting an operation."
"They’re staying well away from your neighborhood."
"You should be able to continue enjoying your peaceful life."
"I appreciate the thought."
Evenson leaned back in his chair.
"As long as they don’t drag their problems to my doorstep, I’m perfectly happy staying out of it."
While they spoke, the battle elsewhere in New York was already reaching its conclusion.
The battlefield was littered with crushed Humvees, mangled armored vehicles, and unconscious soldiers.
At the center of the destruction stood the Hulk.
Facing him was a single man.
Emil Blonsky.
He no longer looked entirely human.
He’d grown taller.
His muscles bulged with unnatural density.
A jagged green streak ran across the left side of his face.
Breathing heavily, he grinned at the enormous green monster.
"Is that all you’ve got?"
"You don’t deserve that kind of power!"
The Hulk answered with a kick.
Blonsky disappeared into the distance like a human missile.
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