To his credit, Captain America adjusted quickly.
Most people would have needed weeks, maybe months, to process waking up seventy years in the future, discovering they had become a giant blue Hulk, and learning that mutants, Inhumans, and supernatural threats were all real.
Steve Rogers managed it in days.
Drex was curious about the exact nature of Steve's Hulk abilities.
Fortunately, the Hulk in this universe was still relatively normal. He wasn't tied to the One Below All or any of the more terrifying cosmic interpretations of the character. That meant Drex could test things without worrying about unexpected complications.
After a series of evaluations, Drex walked over and patted Steve on the shoulder.
"Congratulations, Captain. From now on, you probably won't need that shield anymore."
Steve raised an eyebrow.
Drex continued.
"Your skin, muscles, and skeletal structure have properties remarkably similar to the shield itself. You absorb kinetic energy, store it, and redirect it. Conventional impact damage is effectively meaningless to you now."
Steve stared.
"You mean..."
"You can absorb kinetic force and release it as shockwaves."
The silence that followed lasted several seconds.
"So this is what modern super-soldier technology looks like?"
Steve was genuinely stunned.
Back in his era, even a super-soldier like him could be killed by a handgun round if luck turned against him. Rifles, machine guns, artillery, any of those could put him down.
Now?
During testing, tanks had shelled him.
Fighter jets had bombarded him with missiles.
He hadn't felt pain.
After transforming into Blue Hulk, he possessed incredible strength and virtually unmatched durability.
Among the four Hulks currently serving the Bureau, Steve's defensive capabilities were arguably the greatest.
The appearance took some getting used to.
But since he could return to normal afterward, he viewed the transformation as just another power to master.
Control it.
Understand it.
Use it responsibly.
That was enough.
Nearby, Bruce Banner felt increasingly conflicted.
Ross controlled his transformation.
Blonsky controlled his transformation.
Steve controlled his transformation.
Out of all the Hulks in the Bureau, only Banner still carried the constant risk of losing control.
Why?
The question lingered in his mind.
At the same time, it reinforced his decision to stay.
If the Hulk ever broke loose again, this was probably the safest place on Earth for it to happen.
Even if Director Valen wasn't present, there were still three other Hulks capable of stopping him.
And unlike Banner, all three had received permanent physical enhancements even in their normal forms.
Ross was stronger than peak human.
Blonsky was stronger than peak human.
Steve was stronger than peak human.
Banner remained... Bruce Banner.
A regular man.
That realization was strangely depressing.
"I'll keep using the shield."
Steve shook his head.
Even if his body had become as durable as the shield itself, the shield represented more than protection.
It was part of who he was.
He had carried it for too long to abandon it now.
Drex looked him up and down.
"Won't the size be a problem?"
Steve paused.
That was a fair point.
His transformed hands were larger than his original head.
Holding the shield while transformed would be difficult, to say the least.
For the first time since awakening, Captain America found himself contemplating equipment compatibility issues caused by becoming a giant blue Hulk.
Not long after Steve joined the Bureau, their first major assignment arrived.
Mutants.
As usual.
A biotechnology corporation in the United States had discovered a mutant whose ability could suppress the powers of nearby mutants.
His codename was Leech.
Unfortunately, the company had pushed things much further.
Using Leech's genetic material, they had developed a serum capable of permanently removing the mutant gene and erasing mutant abilities.
The consequences were immediate.
The Brotherhood of Mutants exploded into action.
They wanted Leech captured.
Either kill him or lock him away forever.
Then destroy every trace of the cure.
The situation resembled the events of X-Men: The Last Stand.
But only on the surface.
This wasn't an isolated X-Men universe.
It was a larger crossover reality filled with overlapping factions, heroes, and threats.
That naturally changed the course of events.
Captain America skipped straight to the important part.
"So our mission is to protect Leech?"
"Exactly."
Drex nodded.
Leech, whose real name was Jimmy, was being held on Alcatraz Island in an isolation facility operated by Worthington Laboratories.
Magneto viewed the boy as a critical threat.
As long as Leech existed, scientists could continue developing anti-mutant treatments.
In the original timeline, Magneto and the Brotherhood attacked Alcatraz Island while federal forces and the X-Men defended it.
Things were different now.
The Supernatural Management Bureau had changed the board.
Juggernaut and several other dangerous mutant criminals had already been transferred into the Bureau's underground containment prison.
Unless Magneto was willing to launch a direct assault on Bureau headquarters, there was no realistic way to free them.
Even if everyone else was away on assignment, Bruce Banner remained behind.
For most enemies, that alone was enough to discourage an attack.
Four Hulks.
Who in their right mind would willingly charge into that?
Especially when those four Hulks worked under a mysterious director capable of defeating multiple Hulks with his bare hands.
Even Nick Fury had eventually stopped objecting to Drex absorbing SHIELD's inventory.
In Fury's eyes, the Bureau had become the safest location on the planet.
If something was stored there, nobody was stealing it.
Of course, SHIELD's authority had suffered enormously as a result.
Most supernatural cases now fell under Bureau jurisdiction.
SHIELD was increasingly restricted to handling conventional threats, international crime, espionage, and ordinary human affairs.
Not everyone was happy about that.
Hidden within SHIELD's ranks, HYDRA had noticed.
And HYDRA was interested.
Very interested.
The Bureau's Hulk technology represented a temptation almost impossible to ignore.
Unfortunately, the organization had one major problem from HYDRA's perspective.
It barely had any employees.
Drex had deliberately kept the Bureau tiny.
That made infiltration nearly impossible.
Even if HYDRA somehow planted an agent inside, obtaining the Hulk technology would be another challenge entirely.
According to all available intelligence, only two people understood the process.
Drex Valen.
Bruce Banner.
If HYDRA could capture either of them, they wouldn't need to steal the technology at all.
What Drex hadn't expected was Magneto's response.
After evaluating the likelihood of successfully attacking Alcatraz Island, Magneto concluded the odds weren't good enough.
Then he discovered something useful.
A mutant capable of sensing other mutants, measuring their power levels, and locating them.
That changed everything.
Instead of targeting Alcatraz directly, Magneto shifted his attention toward the Supernatural Management Bureau.
The Bureau's creation had effectively eliminated the former Mutant Affairs Administration.
Any mutant criminals apprehended by government authorities were now classified as Bureau containment subjects.
Only criminal mutants were imprisoned.
Those who had committed no crimes were treated differently.
Drex personally arranged for them to be transferred to Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters.
That gesture had earned him considerable goodwill from Professor Xavier.
The old telepath had been pleasantly surprised by the Bureau Director's approach.
Even more surprising was the fact that someone wielding so much political power also seemed genuinely willing to cooperate.
At the moment, Drex was sitting inside Xavier's School itself.
The two men spoke comfortably.
"If you're interested, Professor, I'd be happy to show you around the Bureau sometime."
Drex leaned back in his chair.
"We currently have four active field agents. The workload is light. Mutant criminals receive the same treatment as everyone else. Those who deserve execution are executed. Those who don't serve their legally mandated sentences and eventually walk free."
Professor Xavier nodded thoughtfully.
"Director Valen, I appreciate your willingness to treat mutants fairly."
There was no displeasure in his voice.
If anything, he sounded relieved.
Drex wasn't treating mutants as a separate species.
He was treating them as people.
Mutants who committed crimes faced punishment.
Mutants who didn't were protected and educated.
Many of the latter now attended Xavier's School because of Drex's decisions.
That mattered.
Still, Xavier remained cautious.
He wasn't the type to casually read minds, especially not the minds of powerful political figures.
And Drex Valen was more than a politician.
He possessed immense influence.
Immense power.
And mysteries that even Professor Xavier couldn't easily unravel.