Compared to the heroes from One Punch Man, Marvel's superheroes lacked one thing above all else:
Killing power.
Movies made for mainstream audiences couldn't get too grotesque. But One Punch Man never cared about that. Its heroes slaughtered monsters in wildly creative ways, giving every fighter a brutal sense of individuality.
New York's heroes, meanwhile, were still adapting.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Ben Grimm unleashed a relentless barrage of punches, each one powerful enough to crush tanks or crater pavement. The storm of blows swallowed the Deep Sea creature's entire upper body.
And yet the monster grinned.
Its grotesquely evolved face twisted upward in excitement rather than fear.
The purple musculature beneath its ribs and back bulged violently before both arms crossed in front of its chest like a living tower shield.
The impacts hammered the ground apart beneath them.
Concrete shattered.
Debris exploded outward.
Within seconds, the street looked like a battlefield trampled by armored divisions.
Dust and pulverized stone swallowed both combatants.
To anyone watching from outside, Ben appeared to hold the advantage. Few beings alive could withstand that kind of speed and force for long. One mistake, one lapse in defense, and they would be reduced to pulp instantly.
But only Ben understood what he was actually fighting.
Unfortunately, the rest of the Fantastic Four were already drowning in battles of their own.
More and more Deep Sea creatures kept pouring inland.
The military was taking losses too.
More than a dozen War Machine units destroyed.
One Iron Monger torn apart.
Several tanks annihilated.
Then a small spray of green blood hit the pavement.
The Deep Sea creature straightened slowly, its jaw twisting sideways with disgusting cracking noises before snapping back into place.
"Heh…"
It grinned savagely.
"So that's it?"
The damaged flesh regenerated almost instantly.
Meanwhile, Ben Grimm lay half-buried at the bottom of a crater over half a meter deep.
His rocky body was covered in fractures.
Stone plates across his chest and arms had visibly cracked apart.
Even lifting his head took effort.
"Soldier," the Deep Sea warrior sneered, "you barely scratched me."
It stepped closer while thick saliva dripped from its jaws.
"Those punches of yours don't mean much."
Its eyes gleamed with predatory hunger.
"Attacks without killing intent are meaningless."
The creature inhaled deeply through its teeth.
"Wonder what you taste like. Bet you've got a good chew to you."
Among the Deep Sea Clan, ordinary marine life and evolved Deep Sea beings were considered completely separate species.
Weak mutants became civilians.
Only the savage and physically powerful became soldiers.
And every Deep Sea creature invading New York today belonged to the latter category.
None of them knew the truth.
They were temporary beings created through atomic reconstruction and given artificial consciousness. Even if nobody killed them, their bodies would naturally collapse within days.
Watching the battlefield from afar, Drex Valen folded his arms.
"After this," he murmured, "the Superhero Initiative should advance much faster."
Turn Earth into a forbidden zone feared across the universe.
That was the goal.
The military continued pouring reinforcements into the city, but tanks and helicopters were simply too slow compared to the Deep Sea Clan. Only the highly mobile War Machine and Iron Monger units could keep pace, and there weren't nearly enough of them.
Drex smiled faintly.
"Guess it's time for my entrance."
Black nanomachines spread upward from his feet, flowing across his body like liquid darkness.
Within seconds, the Dark Knight Armor fully formed around him.
Then he stepped off the rooftop and descended toward the battlefield in silent levitation.
This time, Drex deliberately chose not to use electromagnetic manipulation.
It was efficient, sure.
But every now and then, even he wanted to stretch a little.
"The Dark Knight!"
"Finally!"
Daredevil and Blade both sounded almost emotional.
The two of them had nearly gotten torn apart trying to fight even a single Deep Sea soldier.
Spider-Woman and Venom weren't doing much better.
At that moment, one of the Deep Sea creatures lunged toward Drex the instant he landed.
Everyone saw Drex throw a single punch.
BOOM!
The air detonated.
A deafening shockwave blasted outward across the battlefield.
And the Deep Sea creature exploded.
Not metaphorically.
Half its body vanished into bloody fragments instantly.
Nick Fury, watching remotely through S.H.I.E.L.D. surveillance feeds, nearly bulged his remaining eye out of its socket.
"He upgraded the armor again?!"
The thought flashed through countless minds simultaneously.
Because the Dark Knight armor had never displayed this level of power before.
Naturally, everyone assumed Drex had simply improved the technology.
Nobody considered the possibility that the strength belonged to Drex himself.
After all, the image he cultivated publicly was deeply ingrained by now:
Genius scientist.
Weapons developer.
Tech billionaire.
Not monster.
Another Deep Sea creature attacked from behind.
Drex vanished.
A stretched afterimage lingered across everyone's retinas before he reappeared behind the monster at impossible speed.
Nanomachines gathered into his hand, forming a blade.
Then the weapon began glowing red-hot.
High-frequency blade.
One slash.
The Deep Sea creature split cleanly in half.
Blood splashed onto the vibrating blade and instantly atomized into crimson mist.
A third Deep Sea warrior slammed a fist directly into Drex's helmet.
Drex didn't move an inch.
Johnny Storm stared wide-eyed.
"That armor is insane. Speed, strength, durability… Reed, can you build something like that?"
Reed Richards looked almost inspired.
"Not exactly. I can't fully understand the underlying principles."
He adjusted his posture thoughtfully.
"But I might be able to create something similar."
Just as it seemed Drex was about to steal the entire spotlight for himself, music exploded across the battlefield.
Loud.
Aggressive.
Absolutely obnoxious.
Then hundreds of fiery propulsion trails streaked across the sky from the distance.
Everyone looked up.
"…What the hell is that?"
"War Machine units…?" someone asked uncertainly.
Then a familiar voice blasted through external speakers.
"Don't worry, people! Iron Man has arrived!"
A gold-and-red armored figure led the formation.
Tony Stark.
Behind him flew hundreds of Iron Man armors.
Even Drex looked slightly surprised.
Tony had actually mass-produced this many suits?
The armored legion immediately opened fire on the Deep Sea Clan, supporting the military's War Machine and Iron Monger units.
Still, Drex quickly noticed something important.
These were generic mass-production suits.
Not specialized custom variants like the ones Tony would eventually create in the future.
And soon enough, their weakness became obvious.
Insufficient firepower.
The Iron Legion could damage the Deep Sea creatures, but not decisively.
The entrance looked spectacular.
Functionally, though?
Not much better than fireworks.
Tony realized the problem almost immediately himself.
He'd shown up expecting to save the day.
Instead, these monsters turned out to be absurdly durable.
Gradually, everyone's attention drifted back toward Drex.
Because while the rest struggled desperately…
Drex maintained the same terrifying pace.
One slash.
One dead Deep Sea warrior.
Occasionally, one punch.
One exploded Deep Sea warrior.
Methodical.
Effortless.
And infinitely more efficient than everyone else combined.