A great battle had ended.
And with it, a life of bitter longing.
Max Dillon died still reaching for the world that never accepted him. A man consumed by his own power, undone by the very force that made him a god.
"Too much power." Soren watched the last electrostatic arcs flicker in his gene tank. "He never got his wish."
There was a rare stillness in the lab.
No buzzing equipment. Just Soren's thoughts echoing off the polished steel walls.
"But even in death." He said quietly. "You contributed to something greater."
Across the lab, a massive gene tank pulsed with dim green light.
Floating inside was the DNA matrix of a creature that had never stopped growing, the King Anaconda, or as Soren had named him.
"Zilant."
A name carved from legend.
The world serpent. The earth-bound dragon.
Soren stepped forward and placed his hand on the glass.
"Zilant... you're a symbol of everything I can't be... but can create."
At the main workstation, three DNA samples hovered in suspension under containment fields:
[Electro-human gene]: A swirling mass of silver-blue plasma, dancing like thunderclouds.
[Abomination gene]: Pulsing radioactive green, filled with density and raw aggression.
[Hulk gene]: Faintly glowing red, concentrated and eerily calm.
"Now… let's see if you can coexist."
With precision only Soren possessed, he began the integration sequence. The DNA strands rotated in the air, then slowly spiraled together, weaving like serpents in a dance.
They resisted, energy surging, almost rupturing the containment.
"Stabilizing... c'mon, hold..."
"Hold..."
The tank flashed.
Fusion!
"Successful."
The new gene was a storm of green and silver, glowing with potential, dancing with power.
"It worked." Soren exhaled. "It really worked."
He stared at the gene, entranced.
"The Abomination's resilience and power… Electro's speed, energy conduction, and form manipulation. And with hatred as the catalyst… Zilant will become something else entirely."
He tapped into the system and designated the new gene construct:
[PROJECT RAGNAROK]
"Once Zilant is re-sequenced with this, his combat rank will shoot past B-level, maybe A. Energy-based attacks, brute force, adaptive regeneration..." He chuckled darkly.
"He'll be unstoppable."
He leaned over the tank, speaking low, as if to a child.
"Zilant, you're going to be the storm I ride. The sword I draw when words fail. You'll be everything I need…"
His voice trembled, just a little. "You'll protect what I can't."
But as the adrenaline wore off, the toll became unbearable. He'd been awake for hours.
Fighting. Analyzing. Stitching together the future through strands of DNA.
And now, finally... it was quiet.
The lab lights dimmed.
The gene tanks pulsed softly.
"Medical Hall's locked." Soren muttered. "They'll think I'm still in the lab…"
He stumbled out, his vision blurring slightly as the corridor tilted around him. The humming of machines and whirring doors faded into the background.
"Just... five minutes…" He whispered.
He made it to a nearby wall, leaned against it~
~and collapsed, sliding down into a deep, exhausted sleep.
Three days.
That's how long Soren had been asleep, buried in dreamless darkness, unmoving on the cold clinic cot.
The battle had pushed his body to its limits. The integration process had strained his mind. And for once in his life, he slept like a log.
But the world didn't.
Outside, the signs of his battle hadn't gone unnoticed. The cratered street. The fused metal gates. The scorch marks that laced the entire front of the medical hall like veins of fire. More importantly…
The energy readings.
Off the charts.
Enough to make S.H.I.E.L.D. twitch.
When Soren finally awoke, the light outside was dim, just before sunrise. He stretched with a long, satisfied groan, cracking his neck.
"Mmm... finally."
For the first time in months, he felt refreshed.
He pulled on a coat, opened the front door of the medical hall, and almost ran straight into Agent Phil Coulson.
"Soren!"
Coulson's face lit up like Christmas morning.
"You're alive! Thank God. We've been by here multiple times. No lights, no response. We thought..."
He cut himself off, then glanced past Soren into the clinic.
"We thought you didn't make it."
Soren blinked, then smiled.
"Sorry, Agent Coulson. I wasn't dead, just busy. Then very, very asleep."
He stepped aside, motioning Coulson in.
"Come in. Tea?"
"I'd ask for something stronger." Coulson muttered, walking in. "But I'm on duty."
Inside, the clinic had a cold sterility to it. The kind that screamed "workshop first, hospital second."
Vials still buzzed in refrigeration units, and holographic gene models spun lazily on nearby monitors.
"I've got to ask." Coulson said as he settled into a chair.
"Three days ago, we recorded an enormous energy event right outside this door. The kind that fries satellites and gives techs nosebleeds. That was you… and Electro, wasn't it?"
Soren nodded slowly.
"Max Dillon. Yeah. He's back. Or rather, he was. Someone gave him a power up. I don't know who. But I put him down."
"How bad was it?"
"He could become lightning. Fully energized form with high grade armor. The guy had to be rebuilt on a molecular level."
Coulson let out a low whistle.
"Who the hell has that kind of tech?"
"Whoever it is, they spent a fortune on Max. And now he's nothing but smoke and memory."
"Wait… gone gone?" Coulson asked. "No corpse? No traces?"
Soren raised an eyebrow and offered a slight smile.
"Do you see any scorch marks inside my clinic?"
Coulson leaned back, exhaling.
S.H.I.E.L.D. had been tracking Electro's sightings for weeks. A rogue energy ghost terrorizing the city and black sites.
One man had solved the whole damn crisis.
"You've done more than we ever could." Coulson said sincerely. "Director Fury will want to personally thank you. You saved this city from a walking supernova."
Soren gave a small wave of dismissal. "No need to praise me. I just did what needed to be done."
He then leaned forward, curious now. "But I have to ask, has SHIELD been able to contact Deadpool? Any word on that front?"
Phil looked uneasy for a moment. "We've tried every channel we know. Deadpool is elusive, to say the least. There's been nothing."
"But, based on your suggestion, we've let it be known. If he's interested, he'll come looking for you."
Soren's gaze hardened slightly. "I'm not worried about Deadpool. I'm worried about whoever hired him. If they have the resources to bring him in, then they're a bigger threat than we realize."
"And I intend to find out who's behind it."
Phil nodded gravely, understanding the weight of Soren's words. "If Deadpool doesn't show up on his own, you'll know they've heard the signal. It's just a matter of time."
Soren looked at Phil, his thoughts spinning. "Time... It's the one thing we don't have much of. Whoever these people are, they're connected really deeply to stay hidden from SHIELD."
I won't let it go unnoticed." He gave a small grin. "It's time to dig deeper."
Phil met his gaze, a small glimmer of respect in his eyes. "I'll back you up however I can, Soren. You've done a lot already. But if this is bigger than we thought, we'll need all hands on deck."
Soren turned away, pacing slightly. "We'll need more than hands. We need answers. And I'll get them, one way or another."
Phil watched him for a moment, then nodded. "We'll be ready. Just… don't go digging too deep, alright? You're not invincible."
Soren's smirk was subtle but assured. "No one is, Coulson. But that doesn't stop me from trying."
As the door shut behind Phil, Soren returned to his lab.
This battle had been won, but the war...
Was just beginning.
꧁𓊈𒆜༺⚜༻𒆜𓊉꧂
Dare you peek into my other tales? The opening three chapters of select stories are free to all.
PhantomDream