Chapter 409: Hell's Kitchen's Frieza, the Thing, and Lucian, Step Forward!
The points of light streaked across the sky like meteors, swift and mysterious, and flew straight to Hell's Kitchen Community School, where classes had just let out.
There, Ben the Thing was hunched over, his massive frame stooped as he played a game of chase with the little kids. Laughter and cheers blended into a sea of joy.
A point of light plunged into Ben's body. His huge frame froze on the spot. Seeing him stop moving, the kids all started shouting:
"Uncle Ben, why'd you stop? Come catch us! Come catch us!"
But no matter how much they called for Uncle Ben, he didn't move. It was as if he'd been nailed to the spot.
Some of the kids went up to him curiously. Others thought Uncle Ben had died and burst into tears.
The next moment, having inherited the power of Malphite, Shard of the Monolith, Ben transformed instantly from his human-like shape into the form of a monolithic giant.
His enormous body and the sheer force of his presence terrified the children at once.
Their crying snapped Ben back to his senses.
Sandman heard the kids crying and came running, just in time to see Ben return to his usual form.
"You got stronger?" he asked, unsure what to make of it.
"Yeah. Thanks to Ethan." Ben's gaze passed over the crowd, as if it could pierce every obstacle and look straight toward where Ethan was.
Meanwhile, in one corner of the school, Frank Castle, the Punisher, was drilling Hell's Kitchen's security guards, watching them do push-ups.
Suddenly a point of light flew toward him. Frank looked up at it, a flash of alertness in his eyes. Before he could react, it plunged into his body. Just like Ben, he went rigid, eyes shut tight, as though the whole world had come to a standstill.
The guards looked at each other, confused and uneasy.
They couldn't understand why their ever-strict instructor had suddenly frozen up. They worried they'd done something wrong and angered their stone-faced guardian.
For a moment the atmosphere was tense and oppressive.
The next instant, Frank was engulfed in light. His black coat turned white, and two silver pistols appeared in his hands.
Frank's eyes snapped open. His piercing gaze and overwhelming presence made the guards swallow hard.
"These guns will give me my answers. Don't worry, I'll protect this place, Ethan." Frank looked toward where Ethan was in Hell's Kitchen.
...
Deep inside the school, in the community research institute, Doc Ock, Otto Octavius, was absorbed in his mechanical-arm research. Under his nimble fingers, the complex mechanisms seemed to come alive.
His brow knitted one moment, and the next he smiled in satisfaction. His love of science and devotion to it were written all over his face.
The arrival of the point of light broke his concentration. The mechanical arms stopped dead, and Otto felt a power unlike anything he'd ever known flood into his body.
He, too, closed his eyes.
When he opened them again, he let out a mad laugh.
"I see it! I see it all now! Of course! The flesh is weak, and the machine ascends!"
Then his gaze fell on the mechanical arms he had once treasured, and now there was disdain and contempt in his eyes.
The creations he had poured countless hours of blood and sweat into seemed so crude and primitive now that he had received the inheritance.
...
At the same time, on the other side of the city, inside Fisk Tower, Wanda Maximoff was studying the Darkhold under the Chaos Goddess.
She sat cross-legged in midair, dark energy radiating from her. Her face was twisted, as if she were fighting the darkness's hold on her.
The Chaos Goddess's voice rang in her head: "You have to learn to control dark magic. If you lose control, the Darkhold will take you over! Calm your mind! Now!"
Just as Wanda was about to lose control, a point of light entered her body.
Wanda felt a new power surging inside her, and the dark energy instantly came into balance. It was a strength she had never felt before. She slowly opened her eyes, and a new light shone in them.
The Chaos Goddess watched all of this in her head with surprise.
"This dark energy... interesting."
...
In the HYDRA research institute, Kingpin, Wilson Fisk, stood in the center of a spacious lab, his voice deep and forceful as he berated a group of trembling researchers.
His authority and power were so great that no one dared look him in the eye. Suddenly a point of light plunged into his body.
He went completely still, as if all the noise of the institute had nothing to do with him.
Seeing Kingpin stop, the scientists didn't dare say a word.
But Kingpin's inheritance wasn't quite like the others.
Kingpin was instantly pulled into Frieza's memories and watched Frieza's entire life.
As the images faded away, an endless darkness took their place.
Just then, a figure slowly stepped out of the darkness. It was Frieza himself.
He hovered in midair, arms crossed over his chest, his signature tail swaying gently, radiating menace without needing to show anger.
"Hmph. An insect like you wants to inherit my power? You think you deserve it? I could wipe you out right now without even trying!" Frieza's voice was cold and arrogant, as if he held the power of life and death over everything.
But Kingpin didn't budge. His eyes were just as defiant.
"Trash? You're the arrogant one. No wonder you failed. If I had your power, I'd never make your mistakes. A lion uses its full strength even to catch a rabbit. That's something you'll never understand." Kingpin's words dripped with contempt for Frieza.
Hearing Kingpin rip open his old wound, Frieza flew into a rage and wanted to kill him, but for some reason he couldn't move.
"Very well. Since you're so confident, let me see how far you can go once you've inherited my power." Now there was a note of amusement and anticipation in Frieza's voice. Before he'd finished speaking, he dissolved into countless specks of starlight that poured into Kingpin's body like a meteor shower and merged with him.
When Kingpin opened his eyes again, a power unlike anything before surged through him, as if it could shake heaven and earth.
A crushing presence swept across the entire lab and drove every scientist and villain in the room to their knees.
"This power really is something. Don't worry. Soon, very soon, I'll be able to protect you, Ethan," Kingpin murmured, a fanatical light in his eyes. He could feel that he was now strong enough to beat a hundred of his old selves. And he had a feeling he was only using one percent of his potential!
Seeing Kingpin suddenly erupt with such tremendous power, several of the sharper villain-scientists had already guessed it was Ethan's doing.
So the rumors were true: join Hell's Kitchen, and the Lord of Hell's Kitchen would grant you power.
A fanatical glint came into the villain-scientists' eyes. Now they wanted to join Hell's Kitchen more than ever.
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