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Chapter 49: Victor's Spoils
🕑 Added 2025-08-22 07:24:11 +0000 UTCThe two giants circled each other like predators, their footsteps cracking asphalt and sending tremors through surrounding buildings. The Hulk's chest heaved with each breath, massive fists clenched so tight veins stood out like steel cables beneath emerald skin.
The Abomination's lips curled into a mockery of a smile, revealing jagged teeth. "You think you deserve this power, Banner?" His voice like grounded stone. "You pathetic, whimpering nerd—you never earned what flows through those veins."
The Hulk's only response was a low, rumbling growl.
"Sterns and Dr. finally saw the truth," the Abomination continued, circling closer. "Gave me what I needed—your blood and pure gamma enhancement. And now, with whatever serum they're cooking up in that building—" He gestured toward the Baxter Building. "I'll be unstoppable."
"HULK SMASH!"
The green goliath launched himself forward, his leap carrying him across the entire street. They collided like thunder, the impact sending shockwaves through buildings.
"Well," Johnny said, hovering at safe distance, "at least they're keeping each other busy."
"I need to check on Jay and the others," Reed said, stretching toward the Fantasticar.
Steve's shield reflected Johnny's flames as he surveyed the devastation. "We need to check on Ben first."
They found the Thing half-buried in twisted fire escape remains, rocky hide scraped but intact. His eyes were closed.
"Ben!" Sue knelt beside him. "Ben, please—"
"Stand back," Tony's voice cut through her panic as Iron Man descended, his suit running diagnostics. "He's alive, just unconscious. Probably a concussion—if you can call it that when you're made of rock."
"Can you wake him up?" Steve asked.
"This is gonna hurt." Tony's suit reconfigured, electrical energy crackling between his palms. "This will be the world's most expensive defibrillation."
The electrical discharge hit Ben like lightning. His rocky frame convulsed as voltage coursed through him.
Ben's eyes snapped open with a grunt like grinding boulders. "What the—Tin can?! Did you just tase me?!"
"Had to make sure your circuits were still running," Tony quipped. "You missed quite a show."
Ben sat up slowly, gaze immediately finding the battling monsters. Each punch echoed like artillery fire. "How's the kid? Jay—is he...?"
"Reed went to check. The process can't be stopped now."
"Then I gotta get back down there." Ben pushed himself up with surprising grace for living rock. "Can't let anything happen to the Doc when he trusted us." His voice carried weight of responsibility. "That kid's endangering enough already."
Another building-shaking impact punctuated his words as the Hulk drove Abomination through a storefront.
"Johnny and Sue, you are on evacuation duty," Steve commanded. "Tony and I’ll help Ben with the green guys."
Sue nodded, grabbing Johnny's arm. "There are still people trapped."
"But I wanna see Cap's shield tricks up close!" Johnny's flames flickered with excitement as he hovered in place. "I mean, come on! This is Captain America! The guy I've been pretending to be since I was eight! Can't I just watch him work for like two more minutes? Please?"
"Now, Johnny!" Sue's force field crackled with impatience.
"This is so unfair," Johnny muttered as they streaked away. "Finally meet my childhood hero and I have to miss the show."
High above, Domino pressed her face against reinforced windows, watching chaos unfold.
"This is insane," she muttered, checking weapons for the third time. She offered Rogue a spare pistol. "Just in case."
Rogue accepted it with gloved hands, expression conflicted. "Ah don't like guns much, but..." She glanced toward Jay's unconscious form. "For now, ah'll make an exception."
Hank's blue-furred hands flew across control panels, enhanced intellect working to keep cosmic radiation stable despite building-shaking impacts.
"Seismic activity is affecting the quantum field generators," he called out, sweat beading on feline features. "I'm compensating, but if these tremors get much worse—"
The lab door hissed open. Domino spun, pistol raised—
"Just me," Reed's elastic form stretched through the doorway.
"Sorry," Domino lowered her weapon. "This whole situation's got me on edge."
Reed's body flowed across the lab like liquid plastic, limbs extending to reach every monitor simultaneously, which appeared both creepy and fantastic.
"How is he?" Reed asked, multiple hands working across dozens of controls.
"Stable," Hank replied. "As long as cosmic radiation output remains constant, Jay should pull through. Cellular reconstruction is proceeding exactly as calculated."
Reed's expression tightened. "Then we hold the line. Whatever happens down there, we protect this lab."
On the street, the three-way battle had reached mythic proportions. Hulk and Abomination grappled while Ben tried to minimize collateral damage.
"This is like herding cats," Ben grunted, catching flying debris that would've taken out a bus. "Really big, really angry cats."
Steve's shield sang through air, ricocheting off a streetlight to clip Abomination's knee. The creature stumbled, giving Hulk an opening for a devastating uppercut.
"Nice shot, Cap!" Tony called out. "You know, for someone who's been frozen for seventy years, you've still got better aim than most people with targeting computers. But we need a better strategy than 'hit them until they stop moving.'"
"Open to suggestions, Stark."
"Still working on it. JARVIS is running simulations—"
The sound of twisting metal cut them off. Abomination had grabbed a city bus, hefting it like a club.
"Oh, come on," Tony groaned. "That's just showing off."
The bus came flying like a massive fastball. Tony twisted aside, but the projectile was too big to dodge completely.
That's when they heard helicopter rotors overhead.
Military chopper, coming in fast. Through the open door—an older man in general's uniform, and a young woman with concerned brown eyes.
The woman leaned forward, her face pressed against the window, and her voice carried over the helicopter's rotors: "Bruce!"
It was a voice the Hulk had heard in dreams, in nightmares, in every quiet moment when the rage subsided. A voice that could reach him even in his darkest fury.
"Betty!" The voice from the Hulk was different—deeper, more human. Rage in his eyes flickered.
Abomination spotted the aircraft. His hideous grin widened. "Perfect. Let's see how much fight you have left when your girl is in pieces."
He grabbed concrete the size of a small car and hurled it with deadly precision.
Sue appeared, invisible force field catching the projectile mid-air. But the impact sent cracks spider-webbing across her barrier.
"Johnny!" she called out, strain evident.
Her brother streaked upward, flames trailing. He reached the helicopter as Sue's barrier shattered, wrapping the aircraft in controlled fire that incinerated falling debris.
"General Ross, I presume?" Johnny called as he guided the chopper down. "Might want to keep your distance."
The older man in uniform leaned out of the helicopter as it touched down, his weathered face grim and blood seeping from his lips between coughs.
"That thing down there—it used to be one of my soldiers. Emil Blonsky." General Ross's voice carried the weight of command and regret. "My fault this happened. My responsibility is to stop it."
"With respect, General," Steve called out, shield at ready, "you might want to let us handle this one."
But it was too late. As the helicopter touched down, they could see blood on Betty Ross's forehead where she'd hit the cabin wall.
The Hulk saw it too.
His roar was different this time—not just rage, but soul-deep pain. When he looked at Abomination, his eyes promised absolute destruction.
What followed wasn't a fight—it was an execution.
The Hulk moved with purpose, each blow calculated for maximum damage. He grabbed Abomination by the throat, lifting the twelve-foot monster like he weighed nothing. His other fist connected with bone-crushing force, over and over, until the healing factor couldn't keep up.
"You... hurt... Betty," Hulk growled between punches.
Abomination's struggles grew weaker. His gray-green skin began to fade, muscles shrinking as gamma radiation was literally beaten out of his system. Within minutes, where once stood a monster, now lay Emil Blonsky—human, broken, barely breathing.
But Hulk's rage wasn't satisfied. He raised both fists for a killing blow—
"Bruce, stop."
Betty's voice cut through fury like a knife. She stood twenty feet away, one hand pressed to her bleeding forehead, the other extended toward him.
"He's done. It's over."
Hulk froze, massive chest heaving. Slowly, his eyes shifted from the broken man to the woman he loved. Rage flickered, warred with something deeper.
"Betty... hurt," he rumbled.
"I'm okay," she said softly, taking a careful step forward. "I'm okay because you protected me."
Steve approached cautiously, shield lowered. "Easy, big guy. We're the good guys here. You saved a lot of people today."
Hulk's gaze fixed on the star-spangled shield, then Steve's face. Something passed between them—recognition.
"Hulk... protect Betty," the green giant said simply.
"I can see that," Steve replied. "That makes you one of the good guys in my book."
Tension began to ease. Tony's suit powered down weapons. Ben allowed himself a small smile.
The moment of calm lasted exactly thirty seconds before reality came crashing back.
"Well," Tony announced, "I'd say that's a successful first team-up—"
BOOM!
The explosion ripped through the Baxter Building's upper floors like a flower of fire and debris. Windows cascaded down in glittering shards, smoke pouring from what had been the laboratory levels.
"TONY!" Johnny screamed, flames flaring white-hot. "I swear, if you jinxed this—"
But they were already moving. Ben leaped between buildings with surprising agility. Steve grabbed Tony's armored leg as Iron Man rocketed upward. Sue wrapped herself in a force field bubble, Johnny shooting them both toward the building.
Only Hulk remained, his sole focus on protecting Betty.
The lab was a disaster zone. Smoke filled the air, sparks cascaded from damaged equipment. Through the haze, they could see figures huddled around the enhancement chamber—Reed's stretched form covering critical systems like a human shield, Hank working frantically at backup console, Domino helping Rogue to her feet.
"Reed!" Sue called out, force fields clearing smoke. "What happened?"
"System overload," Reed replied without looking up, multiple arms working across dozens of controls. "Seismic activity caused cascade failure in the stabilizers. I've got it contained, but—"
He stopped. His eyes widened as he looked at the chamber.
Inside, Jay's eyes were closed, but there was a leak in the chamber where shrapnel from the explosion had torn through the containment wall, and a jagged piece of twisted metal was embedded deep in his abdomen, dark liquid seeping around the wound.
Domino and Rogue both tried to leap forward, but Ben stopped them. "Hey, hey! Stay back!" He ran toward Jay. “That cosmic juice is still cookin' in there. One wrong move and we're all toast."
Just as he reached the chamber, an energy blast crackling with green and silver sparks struck his face, sending him crashing through walls.
From the smoke came a figure in armor. Reed hopefully asked, "Tony, is that your friend?"
Tony grimly denied it.
When smoke cleared, they saw a man in metal armor from head to toe, eyes visible through slits, covered in a green cloak-cape.
"Fools," the armored figure spoke, voice resonating with absolute authority and disdain. His diction was regal, formal—the speech pattern of nobility that had remained unchanged even as the world became casual. "You dare tamper with forces beyond your comprehension? The cosmic energies you have unleashed belong to DOOM!"
The figure raised one gauntleted hand, and the very air around them began to crackle with eldritch energy.
"I have come to claim what is rightfully mine."
Comments
Gemaxter
Man everybody is trying to get a piece of butt whooped.
