Kerry bowed and left the room.
Ernst sat alone in the dim light. He closed his eyes, focusing on his breathing.
Exhale.
He punched the air. He didn't use full force, just a snap of the wrist.
BOOM.
A shockwave rippled through the cavern, knocking over a stack of datapads.
The air pressure dropped for a split second.
"Thirteen times," Ernst muttered, looking at his fist.
"I am thirteen times stronger than a human. I am equal to Captain America."
It should have been enough.
But for Ernst, it was a plateau.
For a year, he had absorbed ambient electricity and kinetic energy, pushing his cells to their limit.
But now, the returns were diminishing.
His body had acclimated. He needed a new catalyst.
"Red Queen," Ernst spoke to the air.
"Status on the bio-enhancement protocols. I've hit a wall. How do I break it?"
The holographic girl appeared on the desk.
"Analyzing. Your cellular density has reached maximum saturation for your current biological framework. To evolve further, you need a high-grade energy source to force a mutation."
"I have Tesseract batteries," Ernst suggested.
"Spatial energy."
"Negative," Red Queen replied.
"The Tesseract is Space Stone energy. It is fundamental, but chaotic. If you absorb it directly to rewrite your DNA, the probability of disintegration is 40%. Even if you survive, you will likely gain spatial abilities, not physical density."
"I have Azazel for travel," Ernst dismissed.
"I need invulnerability. I need power."
"Then the solution is already in your possession," Red Queen said.
A hologram of the Celestial Phalanx appeared, the massive finger bone he had stolen from Hydra.
"The Artifact," Ernst realized.
"Correct. The energy signature of this bone matches the resonance of the X-Gene. My database suggests this species, the Celestials, were the architects of the mutant gene eons ago. Their energy is not just fuel; it is code. It is designed to facilitate evolution."
Ernst stared at the hologram. It made perfect sense. Apocalypse, the first mutant, used Celestial technology to become immortal.
"But the bone is finite," Ernst argued.
"If I drain it, it turns to dust."
"We do not drain it," Red Queen corrected.
"We use it as a lens. We channel raw electrical energy through the bone structure. The bone filters the electricity, converting it into bio-compatible evolutionary radiation. Infinite fuel, infinite growth."
Ernst grinned.
"A filter. Brilliant."
Ernst wasted no time.
He retrieved the massive phalanx from the secure vault.
With his molecular manipulation ability, he carefully sliced the artifact in half.
The bone was dense, harder than diamond, but it yielded to his will.
He built a housing for it, a "Harmonic Transducer."
It was a complex ring of Kryptonian alloys and terrestrial copper, designed to funnel gigawatts of power through the marrow of the Celestial bone.
It took two days.
When it was finished, it looked like a piece of art: a glowing, organic machine pulsating with ancient power.
"Time to feed," Ernst whispered.
He went to the sublevel.
The base was powered by a compact nuclear reactor he had scavenged from the Valkyrie designs.
Ernst hooked the Transducer directly into the main output lines.
He grabbed the conductive handles.
"Red Queen, initiate power transfer. 100% output."
"Warning," the AI stated.
"This will strain the grid."
"Do it."
CLICK. HUMMM.
The reactor roared. Electricity flooded the Transducer.
It hit the Celestial bone and changed color, shifting from harsh white lightning to a soft, golden radiance.
The energy flowed into Ernst.
Oh.
It wasn't painful. It was ecstatic.
It felt like warm honey flowing through his veins.
Every cell in his body vibrated, expanding, hardening, evolving.
He felt his DNA unspooling and reknitting into something stronger. Something eternal.
It was the feeling of being born.
Above ground, the base went dark.
Lights flickered and died.
The perimeter fences lost power.
In the barracks, soldiers shouted in confusion.
Deep underground, the nuclear reactor was screaming.
The cooling rods were glowing cherry red.
The turbine was spinning so fast it threatened to tear itself apart.
Ernst didn't notice.
He was lost in the golden void, drinking the power of a star.
More. More.
He drained the reactor dry.
The nuclear fuel cells were depleted in minutes, a year's worth of energy consumed in a heartbeat.
CLICK.
The safety breakers tripped.
The flow stopped.
Ernst gasped, his eyes snapping open.
They glowed with a terrifying golden light for a second before fading back to normal.
He stood there in the dark, breathing heavy.
He felt... heavy. Dense. Like a planet.
"Dr. Ernst?"
A beam of light cut through the darkness.
Azazel stood in the doorway, holding a flashlight.
"The power is out," Azazel said, looking at the smoking ruins of the reactor connection.
"The whole island is dark. Did you... eat it?"
Ernst looked at the depleted reactor.
"I believe I did."
He flexed his hand. The air crackled around his fingers.
"I need a bigger battery," Ernst said, a smile spreading across his face in the gloom.
"But for now... switch to backups. I feel caffeinated."
-------------
Authors Note:
Do you want to read 25+ Chapters ahead right now?
Stop waiting. Come over to the dark side. We have cookies, advanced chapters, and very, very detailed 'plot.'
patreon.com/
Dark_sym