Excessive Absorption

Though it was only a tiny blob of "slime," it was hardly slow. In a dozen seconds, it caught up with Mercer and merged into his body.

"At least that bald guy knew what was good for him. Otherwise, I thought I'd have to wipe out S.H.I.E.L.D. It's been infiltrated by Hydra anyway. Sooner or later, it's going down."

Mercer had left a little blacklight matter in the office to monitor what Nick Fury and his companion did after he left.

Seeing that they had no plans to surround and attack him, Mercer relaxed. One more friend was better than one more enemy, even if he had nothing to fear.

As for their investigation into him, that was of no consequence.

Mercer needed to head straight to where Abomination was being held. He could hardly wait to see the changes absorbing him completely would bring.

Abomination was imprisoned nearby, in a Detention Center close to S.H.I.E.L.D.

By the time Mercer arrived, everyone had been evacuated, so he entered easily.

A massive cage stood in the center of a spacious white room. Inside, a gray figure thrashed around, furiously smashing everything within reach.

That hulking figure was Abomination. Once the anesthetic wore off, he had reverted to his Abomination form and was trying to break out of the cage.

As Mercer walked over, he saw plenty of bright red liquid on the floor. One glance was enough to tell him it was blood.

"Looks like containing Abomination wasn't easy. At least ten people must have been injured."

Mercer surveyed his surroundings and walked straight up to Abomination.

At the sight of Mercer, Abomination visibly shuddered.

"You! It's you! What are you doing here?"

His expression was panicked. Faced with all that weaponry, Abomination had shown no fear at all.

Yet this handsome young man of ordinary height had already left him deeply traumatized.

His opponent's strength defied imagination. Even in his mutated form, Abomination could barely withstand his attacks. How could he not be afraid?

"Why am I here? You should know that better than anyone."

Blacklight matter writhed in Mercer's hand, forming several blades between his fingers. He flung them sharply, frightening Abomination into leaping backward and taking a defensive stance.

But the pain he expected never came. Abomination lowered his hands and looked, only to discover that Mercer's blades had destroyed the cameras in the room.

"I'd rather not let anyone see my abilities."

Mercer grinned. Blacklight matter surged over his arms, turning them into a pair of enormous black claws.

He sprang into the air and slashed at the bars before him.

The metal bars had withstood Abomination's furious pounding, but Mercer's claws sliced through them as easily as tofu.

Abomination screamed, and Mercer chuckled wickedly. In an instant, the scene took on the feel of a wolf descending upon a sheep.

Despite the enormous difference in their sizes, Abomination was the one being chased.

"Damn it! I'm not losing to a scrawny little monkey like you!"

Watching Mercer draw closer, Abomination grew frantic. One look at the cleanly severed metal bars told him that Mercer's arrival could mean nothing good.

He would die at this rate. He shouted to bolster his courage, then hurled himself at Mercer with every ounce of strength he had, determined to fight to the death.

Unfortunately, the gap between their physical capabilities was simply too great.

Abomination's mutated physique might have surpassed that of ordinary people, but that was only in comparison to ordinary people.

Among all those whose superpowers came from mutation because they lacked the money for anything else, he was not particularly powerful. Besides, he had only just mutated and had mastered few techniques for using his abilities.

Mercer was different. Once the blacklight virus entered his body, it became part of him. The powerful virus could even push his brain to its full potential.

As Abomination launched his desperate final attack, the blacklight matter already gathered in Mercer's leg released a burst of energy, and he kicked Abomination squarely in the abdomen.

Bang!

With a deafening crash that shook the eardrums, Abomination flew backward and slammed into the metal pillar behind him.

The tremendous force made Abomination cough up a great mouthful of blood. Even the metal pillar behind him bent considerably.

"Whoa, whoa, don't waste that blood. Letting it go to waste would be a shame."

Those were the last words Abomination heard before he lost consciousness.

Mercer raced up to Abomination with his superhuman speed. A blade flashed in his hand, severing Abomination's head in an instant.

"Abomination has some regenerative ability, but it's nowhere near Hulk's. Once his head is cut off, he can't reattach it."

Mercer plunged both claws into Abomination's chest and pulled them apart. He tore that bulletproof body in two, and the blacklight virus he had prepared absorbed every last bit.

As the grayish-white blood splattered through the air, tendrils of blacklight matter caught and drew it back in, wasting not a single drop.

Thump!

Mercer suddenly felt a dull impact inside him, as though he had been struck by a heavy hammer. As Abomination's Blood entered his body, his limbs twitched involuntarily, making him suck in a sharp breath.

"Hiss! This stuff really packs a punch."

He looked down at his arms and saw his skin gradually turn grayish-white. Before his eyes, it formed raised, hardened plates arranged somewhat like a turtle's shell.

Small spikes protruded from his skin. Every patch that turned grayish-white sprouted them.

This was Abomination's skin!

The strange transformation did not last long, barely a few dozen seconds.

Red-and-black matter spread outward from Mercer's heart, swiftly covering the grayish-white skin.

The germs beneath that skin seemed to try to resist, but they were utterly helpless against the blacklight virus's relentless consumption.

In just five seconds, the surface of Mercer's body changed from grayish-white to red and black. The hard skin covering him looked like a suit of armor.

At the joints of the Blacklight Armor, crystalline tubes could be seen carrying red-and-black liquid like blood vessels.

This was blacklight matter, ready to turn into weapons at any moment and fill in the gaps in the blink of an eye.

Once he reached this form, Mercer's transformation stabilized.

He stared in astonishment at the Blacklight Armor covering him. It changed according to his will.

With a thought, the armor receded. With another, it covered his body again.

"For convenience, I bet only the Mark LXXXV Stark builds in the future could match this."

What delighted Mercer even more was that, in the game, this powerful equipment should only have been obtainable in the mid-to-late stages. He had never expected to acquire it already.

Suddenly, a long sequence of memories surfaced in Mercer's mind, playing through it like a slideshow.

"Emil, the experiment has already begun. Please don't move. Don't make this any more painful for yourself."

"Pierce! You never said it would be this kind of experiment! I thought it was just human experimentation!"

"You're quite funny. Isn't this human experimentation? It's just a little more unusual."

In the memories, Hydra's leader, Alexander Pierce, was directing a group of scientists as they experimented on a man.

That man was Abomination in his human form. His name was Emil.

Emil struggled constantly, but his hands and feet were locked firmly in place. All he could do was watch as the grayish-white liquid in the surrounding tubes was injected into his body.

What followed was mutation after mutation, until he became the monstrosity known as Abomination.

Mercer could clearly feel the despair and pain within every fragment flashing through his mind, deepening his disgust for Hydra.

So Hydra really did send him.

Mercer thought to himself that, since he was the one who had made Abomination disappear, Hydra would certainly come looking for him. But he was not someone to be trifled with.

"Mission complete. Excessive Absorption!"