Chapter 135 – The Power of the Bomb
A desolate, windswept Gobi desert.
A golden portal tore through the silence, and the group emerged into the dust. Thor kept a firm grip on Loki, while the others turned their attention to Abomination. Ever the fighter, he stepped forward, eager to test himself against Kingpin and Sabretooth.
"Well?" Abomination roared. "Who's first?"
Kingpin glanced at Qin Xiao, then at the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents. He stepped forward.
Fisk had spent the trip contemplating Qin Xiao's decision. He was a man who had conquered the underworld with nothing but his intellect and physical might; he was already at the pinnacle of human capability. The Devil Fruit had simply pushed him further. He understood what Qin Xiao wanted: a show of force.
By registering through Qin Xiao, Fisk bypassed the scrutiny he would have faced had he come forward alone. Yes, he would be on S.H.I.E.L.D.'s radar, but he was already there—and now he could use the government's shadow for his own ends. If S.H.I.E.L.D. needed him, he could leverage their resources. More importantly, he had just broken through his previous limitations; he was growing stronger by the day.
"Let's dance," Kingpin said calmly.
"Hah! Try to keep up," Abomination grinned, lunging forward. The rocky ground shattered under his sheer weight as he charged, his fists glowing with the white, vibrating energy of the Quake-Quake Fruit.
"Everyone, get back," Qin Xiao ordered, walking toward the horizon.
The S.H.I.E.L.D. agents followed, nervous.
"Kingpin is dwarfed by Abomination," Captain Rogers muttered. "He's at a massive disadvantage in reach and raw mass. Why would he choose to meet this head-on?"
"His fruit," Hill replied, eyes fixed on the battle. "He's counting on it."
BOOM!
The two titans collided. Abomination's fist, fueled by tremors, connected with Fisk—but instead of being smashed into the dirt, Kingpin's body erupted.
A massive, controlled explosion detonated at the point of impact. The shockwave sent both combatants flying. Abomination hit the ground like a meteor, shattering the earth into a spiderweb of cracks, while Fisk was tossed high into the sky.
But as Fisk plummeted, he didn't try to land—he began to chain-detonate.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Each explosion acted as a thruster, allowing Fisk to maneuver in mid-air. He turned into a human missile, diving back toward Abomination with terrifying velocity.
Abomination, seeing the barrage, slammed his vibrating fists into the ground.
CRACK!
The earth groaned, the shockwaves turning the desert floor into a roiling sea of stone. Shards of rock erupted like shrapnel, swarming toward the airborne Kingpin. Fisk didn't flinch. He surrounded himself in a cocoon of detonations, pulverizing the incoming rocks into dust before slamming into Abomination with the full force of a bomb.
The impact was cataclysmic.
CRASH!
The tremors of the Quake-Quake Fruit met the explosive shockwaves of the Bomb-Bomb Fruit. A violent sphere of energy expanded outward, carving a crater over a hundred meters wide into the desert floor. The ground was shredded; it felt as though an earthquake were tearing through the region.
"Hahahaha! Again!" Abomination bellowed, leaping out of the crater.
The battle escalated. Every time Abomination's tremors threatened to crush Fisk, the Kingpin utilized his detonations to neutralize the shockwaves. They traded blow for blow, their combined power reshaping the geography of the Gobi.
"Get back! Further!" Agent Hill shouted, her voice trembling. The debris from the fight was flying toward them at bullet-like speeds.
Wolverine and Sabretooth stood at the front of the group, their bodies acting as shields, while the Hulk stood before the others, swatting away massive boulders. Tony Stark, encased in his armor, shielded Pepper, while Frank Castle stood nearby, unmoved, letting the stray shrapnel ping off his swampy hide.
The desert was no longer a wasteland; it was a warzone of fire and tremors, a testament to the terrifying potential of the powers Qin Xiao had unleashed.