More advance chapters on P@treon.com/Saintbarbido.
(General P.O.V)
The battlefield was silent, save for the low, guttural breaths of the Gorilla King as it lay half-submerged in the river, its massive chest rising and falling with painful slowness.
Bond stood at the edge of the impact crater, his body still steaming, his skin glowing faintly beneath the charred remnants of his clothes.
He had won.
But something was wrong.
Sw'Thandi, battered and bleeding, struggled to his feet, his Panther suit cracked in multiple places. His eyes locked onto Bond, filled with a mixture of awe, fear, and something else—concern.
"Bond…" Sw'Thandi's voice was hoarse. "What did you do?"
Bond exhaled slowly, but instead of breath, a thin wisp of golden vapor escaped his lips.
His hands trembled as he clenched his fists, feeling more of the unstable serum's energy thrum beneath his skin, pulsing with erratic intensity.
He felt bloated. Too strong. Too aware. His senses were overloaded, hearing heartbeats from miles away, and the cries of dying Gorillas under Dora Milaje spears.
He could feel the vibrations of the earth itself, the ripples of Wakandan air crafts as emergency services started on rescue operations.
Most of all, he felt like a bomb ready to explode- his flesh was literally aching with barely restrained power.
The serum was still rebuilding him. And he couldn't even control how or where. All he knew was that his tendons were currently ripping and knitting, his muscles burning and twisting, organs melting and bones breaking and-
"Bond." Sw'Thandi's voice brought him back. The Prince took an uneasy step forward, careful to keep his distance. "You fool. You're losing control."
"Explode...clear area."
Bond instructed, already aware of the situation.
The ground beneath him cracked and splintered as golden arcs of raw energy flickered from his body.
The air grew thick, charged with an unstable force, like a storm gathering just beneath his skin.
"Shit. Clear the perimeter! Set up blockades and evacuate the Palace!" Sw'thandi ordered. "How long do you have James?"
A warning flashed through Bond's mind—Erskine's words from the Journal.
"The heart and mind must evolve before the body."
But his body could adapt and had already evolved before the serum. His mind hadn't caught up. He had no idea if his heart ever would. Maybe if it was Steve in his shoes...
'Focus James.' He chided himself, doing his best to ignore the agony.
"Not...sure."
Wakanda was in danger if he didn't do something about his situation.
The Dora Milaje, who had begun regrouping after the battle, froze as Bond's aura intensified, a searing glow that lit up the battlefield like a second sun.
One of them took a cautious step to help the Panther. "Prince Sw'Thandi… what is happening to him?"
Sw'Thandi's fists tightened as he leaned on her shoulder. "The serum is unstable. We hadn't finished diluting the potency. If Bond had waited-"
"You...dead. Wakanda reduced...a monkey's playground. Now...Go!" Bond gritted out, still wrestling the storm. He couldn't even move as a single step out of fear of losing the leash.
"I'm not going anywhere until we find a way to help you." Sw'thandi flipped through Erskine's journal looking for clues. But with each page his expression turned grimmer. "If it was Erskine's original Sentry Serum formula, the process would have ended by now. Unfortunately, we added the Heart Shaped Herb to complete the unfinished Sentry formula and it became the Ultimate Serum. And it's still rewriting you James. This is only the first stage, there's two more stages of evolution left. Let alone the third, your chances of surviving the second, even with your d.n.a are..."
"Astronomically...zero." Bond chuckled through clenched jaws.
Another pulse of golden light crackled from his skin, scalding the ground and missing Sw'thandi by inches.
"My prince we need to leave." The Dora Milaje tried to pull Sw'thandi away.
"No! Only I can help him!".
"Just...Gooo!!"A low, painful growl escaped Bond's throat as he finally failed to hold the energy in.
The ground split apart beneath him, sending chunks of stone and debris hurtling into the sky.
The Dora Milaje tackled the Panther and shielded him.
The Gorilla King, still barely conscious, stirred at the sudden disturbance. Its massive, bloodied eyes opened, locking onto Bond. A final, defiant snarl rumbled from its throat.
Bond's gaze locked on it just as he was wondering where to divert the excess energy. He took a step off the edge and plummeted towards the Gorilla.
The Gorilla King lunged, its massive claws swiping upwards— only for the palm to turn to ash as Bond went critical and started emitting golden radiation
His glowing hand shot out, gripping the beast's skull in mid-air and cutting off it's howls.
"Should have...playing dead big boy."
For a moment, the entire battlefield stood still.
Then—
Bond tightened his grip and unleashed the chaos.
The Gorilla King screamed from the heat of a thousand exploding suns.
A golden explosion erupted downward, a giant burning skeleton tumbling down the cliffside and landing back in the river. The shockwave obliterated the riverbank and melted the water.
The Gorilla King's remains liquified under the force, reduced to nothing more than scattered embers floating in the night sky.
Bond stood in the center of the dried river bed, his breath ragged, his mind slipping further away from reality.
Sw'Thandi watched in horror.
"Get me down there! Now!"
The Dora Milaje hesitated, their eyes darting between their prince and the glowing figure in the crater.
Bond staggered forward, his vision blurred. His ears rang, and his body screamed in protest but while the golden chaos was spreading, still consuming him from the inside out, that last attack had helped him adapt a little.
At least enough that he could save Wakanda from himself by leaving.
He barely managed to turn his gaze up to the Upper district edge, where Sw'Thandi was and give him a nod.
An explosion shot off Bond's feet as he blasted out of the City and towards the wild mountains.
The sky lit up with a trail ot golden fire, that could be seen from the furthest corners of Wakanda, fading into the distance.
Then, silence.
Bond was gone.
The following morning, the once-vibrant City woke up to scars.
A massive crater, its edges still smoking, sat in the riverbed.
Everything surrounding it was scorched black and the river's flow permanently altered by the events.
Wakandan soldiers and scientists studied the crater's edge with expressions solemn.
Sw'Thandi, his Panther mask removed and wounds tended to knelt on the ground. His fingers dug into the Gorilla King's ash, sifting through the blackened soil as if searching for something.
One of the scientists, standing behind him, spoke softly. "Your Highness… we found no remains."
Sw'Thandi's jaw tightened.
Of course they didn't.
Because James Bond wasn't dead.
Not yet.
But the question remained—what had he become?
Sw'Thandi let the soil slip between his fingers, exhaling slowly.
"We need to find him."
The scientists exchanged nervous glances.
One of them adjusted his glasses. "If he's alive… his energy levels would be off the charts. We might be able to track the residual radiation. But…"
Sw'Thandi turned, eyes sharp. "But what?"
The scientist swallowed. "With the kind of energy he released… it's possible he's in the second stage and still adapting. If we bring him back and fail to stabilize him before the third stage, we risk—"
Sw'Thandi stood abruptly, cutting him off.
"We bring him back."
The scientist hesitated, then nodded. "Yes, Your Highness."
The search for James Bond had begun.
But as Sw'Thandi gazed into the smoldering ruins of the battlefield, he couldn't shake the feeling in his chest.
The feeling that when they found him, when all this was over…
He wouldn't be the same man anymore.
He'd either be dead...
Or have ascended into the Ultimate lifeform.
A God.