From the very beginning, Adam had never tried to position himself as one of the "good guys."
It was simple... he could never be a superhero.
Not because he lacked a basic sense of right and wrong, but because the special power he controlled... the Xenomorphs... made it impossible. Once it became known that he could parasitize living beings, steal their life force through chestburster implantation, and create something greater, certain groups in this world would never accept him.
If exposed, even the most righteous superheroes would view him with wariness and suspicion.
That was why, from the start, he had half-heartedly gone along with this mission. His true target had always been the Abomination.
Blade... or rather, S.H.I.E.L.D., who was evaluating him... would naturally assume Adam had seized the olive branch they extended. In essence, this operation was his way of showing goodwill and a desire to get closer to them.
Under normal circumstances, a justice-minded Adam who was willing to risk himself for S.H.I.E.L.D.'s missions would be assessed and judged accordingly. Perhaps one day in the future, he would join one of their special teams as a superhero. It didn't have to be the Avengers... S.H.I.E.L.D. operated many specialized units, and the Avengers Initiative was only one of them.
That was how things should have played out. Adam perfectly matched certain people's ideal profile: extraordinary power, intelligence, and a clean background. Practically flawless.
Unfortunately, it was all an illusion, built on their ignorance of how the Xenomorph race grew... an utterly shocking method with growth potential that defied any estimation.
"I can't become a superhero? That's fine. I never needed to desperately chase after anyone's approval anyway. I'll just take a different path… I may not be able to make everyone respect my character, but I can make them all fear my power."
Adam's mind was crystal clear. As long as he possessed sufficient strength, no problem was unsolvable.
The Abomination was the key right now. If he could secure the Abomination and use his body to breed the first warrior Xenomorph, the overall power under Adam's command would take its first major leap.
Of course, if he succeeded, the result would shock the world and formally expose both him and the Xenomorphs to many dangerous eyes. But those were minor details. He would worry about them after he had the Abomination.
As long as his strength grew faster than the crises coming his way, any risk was worth taking. The beauty of Xenomorphs was that, with the right host, their power could skyrocket at an exaggerated pace.
Whoosh!
Adam produced one of the eggs.
Its four petal-like segments opened, and a facehugger slipped out silently.
The Abomination missed it entirely, but Mr. Blue... hiding in a corner, praying to God that flying debris wouldn't kill him while obsessively watching the Xenomorphs... saw everything.
What was that? It looked about the size of an ostrich egg, but the shell was leathery, and some strange creature had crawled out of it. It moved with eerie agility, heading straight for…
The Abomination.
Mr. Blue flinched in disbelief. Such a tiny thing, freshly born, daring to target the Abomination?
"No matter what it tries, it won't succeed," he thought. "The Abomination is my greatest creation. Even if those acid-spitting creatures overwhelm him, he won't lose to something so small."
From the battle's progress, the Abomination was in terrible shape. His powerful body was battered and torn, but he hadn't been defeated. As time passed, the immense power from the Hulk's bloodline rapidly healed his wounds, and his growing rage slowly increased his strength.
Though the rate of growth soon plateaued... likely because the serum's potential had been exhausted... he could still casually throw punches with hundreds of tons of force. Any Xenomorph that got grazed was either killed or crippled.
As the fight dragged on, more Xenomorphs died, often without leaving intact corpses. But even in death, they fought with their last breath to spill their blood across the Abomination, inflicting even worse corrosive damage.
The cumulative toll was finally starting to wear on him.
"Very impressive little bugs, but it's still not enough! You think this kind of power is worthy of challenging me?!"
The Abomination grinned savagely. In that short time, he had already killed five of them... the strongest five. Most of the rest were the smaller variants.
Even though one of his arms and shoulders had been corroded down to bone, he had held on.
Victory belonged to the strong. Victory belonged to the great Abomination. He would slaughter these insects, crush that mysterious young man who dared oppose him, find somewhere to rest, and then kill the Hulk. He would prove he was the strongest and that his pursuit of power had never been wrong!
At that moment, as the Abomination felt a trace of fatigue mixed with the joy of impending victory...
The facehugger seized its chance. It rode on the back of a messenger Xenomorph. When the Abomination reached for it, the creature displayed extraordinary agility, scurrying up the giant's finger bones and leaping onto his face.
"What the... ?!"
The Abomination crushed the messenger Xenomorph in his hands, tearing it in half. That was easy for him... one less parasite.
But his arrogance proved his undoing. Who would have expected the real killing move to be something so small?
Even with the Abomination's strength, the facehugger wrapping around his face caused a brief moment of dizziness. His rage quickly burned it away. He pinched the now-motionless creature between two fingers and slammed it against the wall, smashing it into pulp.
Hiss!
The facehugger's remains burst, corroding the wall as well.
"Such a tiny thing, and it had that kind of blood inside? The scientist who made these is truly insane. But power gained through these tricks can't compare to mine."
Only absolute power was the future. That was the conclusion the Abomination had reached after observing the Hulk and personally acquiring part of that power.
He would have to try harder... wipe out these disgusting creatures, then kill that unknown young man who had insisted on opposing him.
But as the Abomination turned with a ferocious expression to hunt the remaining Xenomorphs, he was shocked to see them rapidly retreating and regrouping. Somehow, the young man had already moved to a much safer distance.
"Blonsky, we'll meet again soon. In a different form."
A smile bloomed on Adam's face. With the parasitism confirmed successful, the weight in his heart finally lifted. No matter how furiously the Abomination roared, Adam found the big brute rather endearing.
The more imposing and powerful he looked, the more satisfied Adam felt... like a proud, doting father.
The Abomination's eyes burned with rage. He had paid a heavy price and suffered major damage just as victory seemed within reach. He grabbed a chunk of reinforced concrete and hurled it at Adam with all his might.
Adam stood motionless, his expression calm and gentle. The five surviving Xenomorphs moved in unison, positioning themselves in front of him. They thrust their claws upward together with a thunderous crash, deflecting the concrete slab.
Dust filled the air, revealing Adam's composed face.
The picture of elegance and ease.
With a furious roar, the Abomination charged forward. Adam leaped lightly, covering over thirty feet in a single bound. The clearly superhuman display surprised even the Abomination.
By the time Adam had successfully withdrawn, the entire sequence left the Abomination utterly baffled.
"Next time we meet, I'm going to kill that bastard!!" The Abomination focused on repairing his injuries, angrily punching a wall and bringing down a section of ceiling that smashed onto his head.
"But we don't even know who he is," Mr. Blue said.
The Abomination kicked him savagely, nearly exploding the poor scientist. Whether by luck or misfortune, Mr. Blue crashed into a carefully sealed vial of the remaining Hulk serum.