The scene inside the laboratory was no longer a military operation; it was a descent into primal, biological horror.
Abomination's jaws unhinged with a wet, sickening crack. In a single, fluid motion of savage hunger, he shoved the lead scientist's head and shoulders into his maw. His teeth—reinforced by the serum into jagged, serrated ivory—clamped shut with the force of a hydraulic press. The man didn't even have time to scream before the powerful jaws severed bone and sinew as easily as a knife through butter.
Blood erupted from the freshly opened neck, a hot, crimson spray that coated Abomination's jaundiced face and chest.
The three-serum cocktail was working, but the cost was astronomical. His cells were replicating at a rate that defied physics, demanding a massive, immediate influx of caloric energy to fuel the transformation. There were no high-grade nutrient solutions here, no specialized power cells to drain. There was only the hunger—a ravenous, hollow void in his gut that threatened to consume his very soul.
Driven by a survival instinct that had long since overridden Emil Blonsky's military discipline, the monster began to feed. A full-grown man was devoured in a dozen jagged bites, yet Abomination's stomach remained a bottomless pit.
He glanced at the second technician, who was scrambling toward the emergency exit. Abomination tried to stand, but his body was still shifting. His limbs were heavy, his center of gravity fluctuating as his muscles thickened. He staggered forward clumsily, his massive shoulders denting the reinforced metal walls of the corridor with every step.
He was a juggernaut of flesh and bone. In three thunderous strides, he overtook the fleeing man. He didn't bother with a clean kill; he simply crushed the man's torso in a casual grip and began to gulp down the remains.
'Food... I need more...'
Hunger had completely devoured Emil's sanity. His eyes were no longer those of a soldier; they were twin pools of crimson madness. The scattered remains of the soldiers in the base became the only logical solution to his biological debt.
The Bone Spike Man, cowering in the shadows of the ventilation duct, watched a scene that shattered his mind. He saw the earth-yellow monster squatting in the middle of a literal sea of gore, his broad back heaving with every ragged breath. With every bite, the figure grew. The bone spurs along his spine didn't just lengthen; they sharpened, the edges becoming as thin and lethal as surgical scalpels.
Sensing a gaze, Abomination slowly turned his head. His face was a mask of blood and raw muscle, his single remaining human eye replaced by a glowing red orb of pure predatory intent.
The stare was enough to stop a heart. Bone Spike Man's legs buckled, and he slipped into a mercifully deep faint.
The horrific feed was being broadcast live to the Pentagon, to a secret bunker in D.C., and to S.H.I.E.L.D. HQ.
Dozens of high-ranking generals and senators, people who had signed off on "enhanced soldier" programs for decades, were now turning deathly pale. Several scrambled for trash cans as the reality of their "specimen" hit home. Only a few, the most cold-blooded of the bunch, stared with a morbid fascination at the destructive potential of the titan. They didn't see a monster; they saw a weapon that just needed better "leash" parameters.
High above the desert, Leander Hayes hung up on Fury. He hovered in the thin air, his tactical glasses highlighting the heat signatures below. Even from this height, his enhanced vision pierced the structural layers of the base.
He saw the blood. He saw the missing remains. A wave of nausea hit him, settling into a cold, hard knot of fury in his chest.
"Damn, it's only been a few minutes," Leander muttered, his voice shaking with revulsion. "He looks... he doesn't even look like Blonsky anymore. Jarvis, where are the heat signatures for the rest of the security detail? There were over two hundred men stationed here."
"Mr. Hayes, on-site bio-analysis suggests a catastrophic loss of life," Jarvis's voice was uncharacteristically somber. "Scans indicate that all biological matter has been consolidated in the central laboratory. I regret to inform you that the biomass is currently being integrated into the giant's metabolic structure."
Leander's stomach turned. "You mean he ate them? All of them?"
"That is the most logical conclusion, sir."
Leander stared at the blood-smeared monster sitting motionless in the ruins below. Abomination seemed to be in a trance, his eyes closed as his body finished processing the "fuel."
Before Leander could initiate a descent, a sharp whistle cut through the air. A single, razor-sharp bone spur shot from the dark doorway of the base, aimed directly at Leander's head. It was moving at the speed of a sniper round.
Leander didn't even flinch. He simply reached out and caught the spinning projectile. The force was enough to rattle a normal man's arm, but Leander remained as steady as an anvil. He looked down and spotted the Bone Spike Man—who had just woken up—cowering near the entrance.
"You're a long way from the playground, pal," Leander said.
He gave a casual wave of his hand.
The steel-reinforced concrete wall beside the Spike Man didn't just break; it unraveled. Thick rebar tendons burst out of the masonry like iron pythons. Before the criminal could even launch another spike, four finger-thick steel bars coiled around him, pinning his arms to his sides and squeezing the air out of his lungs.
Leander crooked his finger. The steel cage, with the man trapped inside, was dragged through the air across three hundred meters, coming to a halt right in front of Leander's face.
"What did he do down there?" Leander asked, the steel around the man tightening. "Why isn't he moving?"
The Spike Man shrieked as the bars constricted, his own bone protrusions being forced back into his skin, punching bloody holes in his thighs. "He's... he's changing! He ate the doctors! He ate everyone! Let me go! Please!"
"You're a murderer, Ned," Leander said, his HUD pulling up the man's criminal record—thirteen counts, including children. "I don't think I will."
Leander flicked his wrist. The steel cocoon didn't just fall; it was launched. It rocketed skyward like a booster, hurtling into the upper atmosphere. "Good luck with the re-entry. Hope you like the view from three kilometers up."
Leander turned his focus back to the base. He wasn't going to play games. He wasn't going to clear the rooms one by one.
He landed on the open sand in front of the main hangar, his eyes glowing with a violet intensity. He drew back his right arm, feeling the massive amount of metal below his feet—the supports, the wiring, the foundation.
"Jarvis, identify the main load-bearing structures."
"Identifying now, sir. Highlighting in red."
Leander's hand snapped shut.
It was as if the Earth itself groaned. Every main beam, every support pillar, and every load-bearing wall inside the base shattered simultaneously. The high-grade steel rebar was ripped from the concrete cores, tearing through the floors and ceiling like shrapnel.
The sound was deafening—the roar of a thousand high-yield bombs. The entire Javier base, a multi-million dollar military fortress, convulsed and collapsed into its own footprint. The roof, once buried deep, was now flush with the desert sand.
A colossal storm of yellow dust and pulverised concrete erupted, blanketing the area for a kilometer in every direction. The silence that followed was heavy, broken only by the settling of debris.