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Chapter 23 - Chapter 22: The Ultimate Serum Part 2/2.

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(General P.O.V)

The screams hit Bond first.

Not the kind of screams you'd expect from people—no, these were deep, guttural roars that made the lab's reinforced glass shake like it was about to shatter.

Bond stood on the observation deck, his knuckles white as he gripped the railing, watching the city below go up in flames.

Down there, Wakanda's warriors were fighting for their lives.

The Dora Milaje, with their glowing vibranium spears, were holding the line against a horde of monstrous gorillas.

Purple energy clashed with the ugly orange glow of stolen vibranium weapons wielded by the ferocious primates.

One young warrior got swatted aside like she was nothing, her body crumpling against a vibranium wall. Others were crushed like cardboard by massive hairy forearms.

Credit to the Black Panther, for every Dora lost, he repaid the favor twofold. Weaving past growling Gorillas, Panther broke bones, caved in chests and shattered jaws like nothing.

Bond's jaw clenched. It wasn't enough to turn the tides.

"Focus on their leader!" Sw'Thandi's voice crackled through the comms, tense but steady. "The one in the scrap armor!"

Bond's eyes scanned the chaos.

There he was.

A hunched figure barking orders from a raised platform—a Jabari exile. His armor was a mess, a patchwork of scavenged vibranium plates bolted onto animal hides.

His face was hidden behind a gorilla skull helmet, green mist leaking from its nostrils.

Bond's stomach turned. He knew that mist.

It was psychotropic gas.

Hydra had used something like it—a way to twist minds, to turn people into puppets.

This guy wasn't just leading his army.

He was controlling them.

Bond let out a breath, his hand brushing against the vial of golden serum in his coat.

A last resort.

Below, the Black Panther leapt into action, a shadow moving faster than the eye could follow, closing in on the Jabari scientist.

Sw'Thandi's claws tore through the exile's armor, his movements sharp and deadly—

But before he could land the finishing blow, a horde of Gorilla's swarmed him.

"You will not stop my claws from tasting your dark blood, criminal. Today I do what the Jabari could not and end your miserable existence!" The Panther yelled, tearing apart gorillas.

"You're too late, little king!"

The exile laughed, as he raised a bone horn and blew it. A loud and deep sound surged out, echoing through the destroyed streets.

The ground shook.

Not from an explosion—

Something worse.

A deep, rhythmic thud that came from the jungle.

Bond leaned closer, his breath fogging the glass.

The Jabari horde parted, and something massive stepped out of the forest.

Thirty feet tall.

Its fur was matted with glowing green fungus that pulsed like a heartbeat.

Its eyes—glowing, radioactive green.

And its tusks—no, not tusks.

Vibranium drills, grafted to its jaw, still dripping with molten metal from whatever nightmare forge had created it.

The massive energy turrets outfitted across the Palace, opened fire, raining thermal beams of pure destruction at the unnatural beast.

The gigantic gorilla stumbled, it's pelted chest smoking. The rate of fire increased, filling the whole area with smoke.

Whoosh...a tree flew off the smoke and smashed one turret. Then more projectiles followed, large boulders, tree trunks and even Gorilla corpses.

Thrown accurately and with enough force to rip apart chunks of the Palace itself.

An earth shaking roar split the air as the Gorilla King jumped onto the street.

It slammed the vibranium tusks onto the ground causing an earthquake that destabilized Wakandan forces and splintered the ground. Screaming soldiers were swallowed up by the cracks.

"Mother of God…"

Bond gritted his jaw, deciding to join in the battle. Before he could move, the lab doors hissed opened behind him.

Two Dora Milaje stepped in, their red armor splattered with blood—some of it theirs, most of it their enemies'. Their vibranium spears glowed dimly.

"You're to stay here, outsider," one of them coldly said.

Bond didn't turn away from the battle below.

"How many civilians are in the upper districts?"

Silence.

Then, an even icier response: "That's not your concern, outsider."

The first explosion rocked the palace.

Bond's hand twitched toward his coat pocket, his fingers brushing the vial of golden serum for the fourth time.

Erskine's journal felt heavy against his chest.

"For one to become Super, the Serum is enough. But for one to embody Super," the ghost of the doctor whispered in his memory. "The heart and mind must evolve before the body."

Another explosion—closer this time.

The lights flickered.

Through the smoke, Bond saw Sw'Thandi crash through three buildings, his body limp against the rubble.

The Gorilla King's foot rose.

Bond moved.

The Dora Milaje stepped in front of him, their spears crossing to block his path.

"You're forbidden from interfering. One more step will be met with force"

Bond's eyes narrowed.

"You're joking. You would really stop me?" His voice was sharp, cutting through the chaos outside. "While people are dying?"

"We're following orders Mr. Bond."

Bond's jaw tightened.

The Gorilla King swung again—the ground split apart as a dozen Dora Milaje were crushed under its fist as they tried to guard the prince.

"You don't understand." he said, his voice low.

"We do. You're the one who does not. Neither you nor the serum are to leave the lab under any circumstance." The warrior stood her ground.

Bond's teeth ground together.

This wasn't just loyalty.

This was fear.

SW'thandi's fear of what the serum could do.

Fear of what he might become if he took it.

But Bond didn't have a choice. And neither did the prince.

The ground shook as the Gorilla King prepared to deliver one final, devastating blow.

Bond's breath slowed.

His hand tightened around the vial.

And in one smooth motion— he removed the cap and plunged the needle into his neck.

"Aaahhhh!!" His whole body seized up.

Fire.

Not the warm burn of whiskey on his tongue.

Not the sharp jolt of adrenaline across his body.

A supernova exploded inside his veins.

Bond collapsed against the observation window, his scream silent as his vocal cords tore apart and reformed.

His skin split open—not bleeding, but leaking light. Golden cracks spread across his body like molten steel.

The Dora Milaje backed away, their faces a mix of horror and awe.

Bond's teeth melted and reformed between breaths. This was the function of the Ultimate Serum. Not to enhance biology but to rebuild it entirely.

But the power was too much. It was only the beginning stage and even his Adaptation ability was struggling to keep him alive. To contain the explosion of thousands stars across his cell network.

"Get… out…!" Bond roared, to himself or the Dora Milaje, he knew not.

The window exploded outward.

Later, survivors would swear they saw a meteor hit the battlefield and turn half of the Gorilla horde into ash as Bond landed with an impact that cratered the ground.

The Gorilla King turned, its drills whirring.

Bond staggered to his feet, his broken ankles repairing instantly. The clothes he wore hung in charred rags, his skin shimmering like liquid metal fresh from a forge.

Sw'Thandi, crawling out of the rubble, stared in shock. His Panther suit was cracked, his breathing ragged.

"Bond?!"

Instead of a response, Bond responded by throwing Erskine's journal at SW'thandi'.

"Keep...Safe..." Bond said, breathing out plumes of golden flame."I...handle this..."

He could feel it—his bones humming with infinite energy, his muscles coiled like steel springs buzzing with inactivity.

The Gorilla King roared at the glowing little man before it.

"T- Crush him like an ant King Kong!" The Jabari Exile instructed the creature where he stood on its shoulders.

Bond looked up and met gazes with the terrified scientist.

And smiled. "There you are."

The Gorilla King charged, its drilled tusks tearing through the ground like it was paper.

Bond met it head-on.

Their fists collided.

The shockwave blasted everything within fifty feet to pieces.

The Exile's screams faded as the force tore him to a bloody mist, glass shattered, buildings collapsed, trees were ripped from the ground and bodies were thrown like ragdolls.

But Bond didn't budge.

The Gorilla King staggered back with a pained cry, its knuckles shattered and forearm burning.

Bond exhaled, the strain on his body easing after releasing some of the power. Steam curled from his lips.

"Is that all?"

The fight kept going.

Bond moved faster than thought, dodging swiping claws and crushing fists.

The Gorilla King swung wide.

Bond sidestepped and leaped, driving his fist deep into its ribs. A loud crack echoed across the battlefield.

The beast stumbled to its knees, coughing out blood and green mist.

Bond didn't stop.

A knee to its jaw, a spinning kick to its temple.

The Gorilla King reeled, it's drilled tusks shattering against the ground.

Bond grabbed the monster by it's skull and lifted the almost 100 ton bulk...

And threw it.

The thirty-foot beast flew through the air, crashing into the river below the Upper districts.

The impact sent a tidal wave crashing through the area below, causing a tsunami to flood through lower districts streets.

With their king defeated and leader dead, the remaining gorilla army broke and ran back into the jungle with the Dora Milaje in hot pursuit.

The Wakandan army cheered in victory while Sw'Thandi, still staring at Bond's glowing form, could only whisper:

"Impossible."

Bond cracked his knuckles.

"Anyone else?"

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