Therefore, in terms of potential, Inhumans still fell behind mutants—even when counting the elite ones hidden away on the moon.
And if we're just talking about those left on Earth, most of their abilities were average at best.
The real powerhouses? They were mutants. Like the ones who walked beside Ethan.
This was exactly why Ethan had no hesitation stepping into this so-called Holy Land of the Inhumans.
No matter what kind of tricks Jiaying pulled, they wouldn't matter against someone who controlled vectors with a thought.
Against that level of power... she didn't stand a chance.
"How... how is this even possible? Mutants can really do things like that with just their powers?" Jiaying stood frozen, her voice cracking under disbelief.
Ethan didn't answer.
He was already striding toward her, quiet and steady, the air around him distorting ever so slightly as if reality itself was bending away from his presence.
With every step, dust and broken debris from the shattered matrix gently drifted aside, caught in invisible flows of redirected force.
He was about to stop her.
But then—Calvin stepped between them.
Jiaying's eyes lit up with sudden hope. "Calvin! Stop him—just hold him off for a little longer. I'm so close."
Ethan tilted his head, almost amused. "You think you can stop me?"
Calvin didn't look back at Ethan.
Instead, he turned and wrapped his arms around Jiaying, holding her tightly in place.
"I'm not stopping you," he said softly. "I'm stopping her."
Jiaying's eyes widened in shock. "Calvin—what are you doing?!"
From nearby, Gordon's expression turned sharp.
He was about to teleport when the White Queen casually raised her hand and snapped her fingers.
Gordon dropped with a gasp, clutching his head in agony, groaning on the ground.
"What do I do?" Lincoln stammered, glancing around in panic.
The sparks around his fingertips flickered with hesitation. "I didn't know she planned this. I never signed up for wiping out humanity."
Katie gave him a gentle pat on the back. "Then just don't do anything."
In an instant, the ground beneath Lincoln crumbled.
His body sank straight into the earth—up to his neck—leaving him blinking and utterly immobile.
"Sorry," Calvin muttered, eyes full of regret.
"She wasn't always like this. Jiaying used to be kind. Sure, she could absorb life force, but she never killed. People offered their vitality willingly, saw her as sacred. But after Whitehall... after what he did to her..."
His voice broke.
"She changed. After I pieced her back together... she wasn't the same. That hate started eating away at her. She started sneaking off at night, draining people without asking, and... she began to enjoy it."
Ethan stayed silent, his eyes narrowing.
Calvin looked down. "I know. I knew. But what could I do? If I'd been strong enough back then, Whitehall wouldn't have gotten to her. This... all of this... it's on me."
He tightened his grip around Jiaying. "I still love her. This family. I chose to forgive her."
Ethan's gaze softened just slightly. "So Whitehall broke her... and you put the pieces back together." He gave Calvin a sideways look. "Other guys just bring flowers. You Frankenstein'd your wife."
Calvin offered a weak smile.
"Well," Ethan said, cracking his knuckles, "how about I return the favor? I can fix her. I'm a professional."
"What are you planning?" Calvin's voice tensed as he instinctively shielded Jiaying closer.
"Relax," Ethan said, raising his hands. "She's still useful. I need her to finish translating the Kree data in this place. Hurting her doesn't help me."
"Then... what?"
"She's gone too far. That pain? The obsession? Let's cut it off at the source. Let the White Queen rewrite her memory. Reset her back to who she was—before all of this."
Calvin looked torn. He was silent for a long moment before nodding. "If it means we can have our family again... do it."
"You can't—Calvin! Don't do this to me!" Jiaying screamed.
She tried to drain him, her fingertips glowing as they reached for his chest—but before she could, the White Queen gently touched her forehead.
Jiaying froze in place, her body going limp in Calvin's arms.
"It's okay," Calvin whispered, holding her close.
"Forget the pain. Forget the hate. I'll take care of the rest. I promise you—I will make Whitehall pay."
"Bang!"
The sound of shattering stone echoed as Daisy burst free from her stone cocoon, gasping as she emerged.
What she saw made her stop cold.
Her father, smiling like a boy, arms wrapped around her mother—who stood still and calm, a softness returned to her face.
And Daisy saw something familiar in her mother's eyes. It was kindness from within.
As we know, around 80% of humans carry the X gene. Dr. Banner might have had a latent ability to withstand gamma radiation—something buried deep in his DNA—and the gamma burst simply triggered it. But because the awakening wasn't natural, it caused an instability in his psyche, leading to the Hulk's split personality. Doesn't that theory make more sense?"
"There's definitely logic in that," Ethan said, arms loosely crossed. "But what about Abomination?"
"Ah, that's a bit more complex," Stern replied. "Think of Abomination as a corrupted extension of Hulk's powers. When a mutant awakens, their body often undergoes major changes. I studied John's blood, for example, and found an unusual flame-resistant protein—something unique to him. That's why he can walk through fire untouched. In Hulk's case, his cells are hyper-aggressive. If a normal person is exposed to his blood, those cells invade like a disease—spread like cancer and tear the host apart."
"And if someone survives?" Ethan asked, his eyes narrowing.
"Then those Hulk cells keep multiplying, until they reshape the host into something similar. That's essentially what happened with Abomination."
Ethan studied Stern carefully. "So… what happened to you?"
"I got exposed to a trace amount of Hulk's blood during an old experiment," Stern said, lifting one green-tinged hand. "It started a slow cellular degradation. Fortunately, the dose was small—slow enough for me to track the changes. I didn't want to end up like Emil Blonsky, so I took action."
"You injected yourself with the new formula." Ethan's voice was flat.
Stern nodded. "According to the Kree data and the samples you brought back, I formed a theory. Hulk's mutation wasn't just radiation—it was a mutated gene reacting to it. That gene accepted the foreign mutation. And so, I thought… what if I nudged the mutated gene within me into stability using the formula?"
"And now you've got green skin and a massive cranium," Ethan said with a raised brow.
"Exactly," Stern replied, pointing to his head. "The green is a side effect of the residual Hulk DNA. The big brain, though—that's all me."
"Then is there anything else wrong with you?" Ethan narrowed his eyes at Stern, his tone firm. To him, Stern's transformation is an example of forced awakening—a rush job with messy consequences.
He also vaguely remembered from the reels and shorts that he watched that Stern's swollen cranium and erratic behavior after exposure to Hulk's blood weren't just physical mutations—they hinted at emotional instability too.
Stern gave a tired sigh and rubbed the back of his green-tinged neck.
"My current condition? You could call them defects, yeah. I got lucky, though. My mutant ability is enhanced cognition—basically, I think faster and process more data than a normal brain should. But that kind of mental load comes at a cost. My physical endurance has taken a hit."
He paused, then added,
"The Hulk gene in my body helps keep me from falling apart. It's keeping me healthy, at least on the surface. But the same gene also brings... rage. Loss of control. My mind, fortunately, offsets that. The intellect compensates for the emotional instability. I triggered my awakening when I was at my mental peak. That timing made all the difference. The fusion between my X gene and the Hulk's mutative cells was, surprisingly, stable."
"So... you're still you?" Ethan asked, one eyebrow raised.
He didn't relax, still watching Stern with caution.
His vector field subtly flared around him in a barely visible shimmer—a subconscious defense reflex.
If Stern snapped, Ethan could reverse gravity or launch a focused vector burst to slam him into the wall before he could blinked.
At that moment, Emma Frost entered the lab.
Her heels clicked against the tile as she took in the tension.
Reading the room instantly, she spoke up, "I ran a full scan of Dr. Stern's mental state. He's more stable now than when he first arrived—by a lot. No signs of mental fragmentation or erratic thought patterns."
Ethan finally let the shimmer around him die down.
Stern nodded at Emma's words.
"I've been thinking about the bigger picture. I believe the X gene can be altered—maybe even enhanced—when it's exposed to a foreign mutative source. The Hulk's cells didn't just attack mine.
They merged with my mutated gene. And in doing so, pushed it into awakening. But that's just one case. There aren't enough data points yet. I'm half a sample at best. We need more awakened mutants under controlled conditions."
"Superhuman-level mutations don't follow evolution," Stern continued.
"They defy physics, logic, everything. Some people—normal, non-mutants—develop impossible powers without warning. No alien DNA, no X gene, nothing obvious.
For example. Even a random spider if it had the right genetic makeup—can force someone's genetic evolution with a bite—an external trigger that overrides the natural path."
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Word count: 1581
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