"Boom!" Just as Robert was feeling a bit excited, a red blur shot out from the wall, once again swinging a punch at the Martian Manhunter. This time, its strength and speed were noticeably faster than before! "This lab is quite sturdy! At least it's holding up better than where the Hulk fell earlier..." Watching as the Martian Manhunter and General Ross clashed once more, Robert raised an eyebrow, muttering as he examined the lab's structure. "Hmm? What's going on? Can he also increase his combat power through anger?" The Martian Manhunter was now under considerable pressure. Initially, he had altered his molecular structure to enhance his strength, allowing him to hold his own against General Ross. But now, for some unknown reason, General Ross's strength had increased another notch, making the Martian Manhunter feel pressured again.
With no other choice, the Martian Manhunter released his heat vision once more, blasting General Ross away. "Hmm? He's gotten even stronger? Something's not right. It seems he's not gaining strength from anger but rather from absorbing the heat vision? How interesting, was he deliberately letting himself be blasted away? He's quite the cunning one, with such brute force but a crafty mind..." As Robert sensed another change in General Ross's aura, he immediately noticed the anomaly. After all, if the first time was a coincidence, the second time was enough to raise suspicions, leading Robert to deduce how General Ross was increasing his power. Unfortunately, perhaps due to being a clearer observer, Robert quickly analyzed the situation. But the Martian Manhunter, who was in the thick of the fight, didn't notice. When he realized General Ross had grown stronger again, the Martian Manhunter was forced to stop going head-to-head with Ross, instead dodging his attacks and countering with more heat vision blasts.
"Zing!" "Zing!" "Zing!" In the lab, the red heat vision beams were fired repeatedly, blasting General Ross away each time. But this didn't ease the Martian Manhunter's pressure. On the contrary, as time passed, the Martian Manhunter felt Ross's power growing stronger and stronger! "What's going on?" The Martian Manhunter finally realized something was off. Even if Ross had similar abilities to the Hulk, his power shouldn't be increasing so rapidly, and it shouldn't be continually rising. General Ross hadn't experienced anything to make him that angry. Earlier, Venom had absorbed some of the Hulk's abilities and explained it clearly: normal people—or rather, normal life forms—have a limit to their rage, even the Hulk, who could only keep getting angrier when things went south in a fight. But Ross wasn't in a losing situation; it was the Martian Manhunter who was being suppressed. So what was making Ross so angry?
With these thoughts in mind, the Martian Manhunter began to review the details of the battle. With his superior intellect, he quickly identified the key point. He glanced at General Ross in surprise, then, after a moment of silence, unleashed his heat vision once more. "Here it comes!" Seeing the heat vision beam coming at him again, Ross's eyes gleamed with excitement. He didn't dodge but instead charged straight at it. "Swish!" But to Ross's surprise, the heat vision didn't hit him this time; it struck the ground nearby. Ross, who had been ready to absorb the energy, was momentarily stunned. "Bang!" In that moment of distraction, the Martian Manhunter's massive fist slammed into Ross, sending him flying. This time, Ross was truly injured; for the first time, his body showed wounds, which instantly enraged him.
"You figured it out?!" General Ross climbed to his feet, narrowing his eyes at the Martian Manhunter. "You put on quite a show, but I noticed a bit late. Still, it doesn't matter; you can't win..." The Martian Manhunter shook his head slowly and said softly. "Ha, with your weak punches?" Ross sneered. "Honestly, your laser beams taste pretty good, second only to gamma rays. If you shoot more, when I kill you later, you probably won't feel any pain. Unlike now, when if I hit you, you'll be paralyzed..." "Swish!" As Ross finished speaking, his figure vanished, leaving only a large crater. When he reappeared, he was in front of the Martian Manhunter, swinging his huge fist at his head! "Swish!" "Huh?!" But in the next moment, something baffling happened. Ross's punch went right through the Martian Manhunter, as if hitting air, causing Ross to stumble.
"Bang!" Before Ross could recover, the Martian Manhunter punched him in the jaw, sending him flying again. "How is this possible?!" Ross quickly got up, his face filled with confusion. He noticed that the Martian Manhunter hadn't dodged; he just stood there. Even when attacking, he remained in the same spot. But while the Martian Manhunter could hit him, Ross couldn't touch the Martian Manhunter. This made no sense to Ross, who had never encountered such a strange ability. "Do you think having a bit of strength makes you invincible? Your knowledge is really too limited!" As Ross was lost in thought, the Martian Manhunter floated towards him again. Yes, he floated, in a way that unsettled even the super-strong Ross.
"Swish!" "Bang!" To dispel his unease, Ross immediately attacked again, but his fist once more passed through the Martian Manhunter. Meanwhile, the Martian Manhunter's counterattack landed solidly. "What the hell is this? He can't be a ghost, can he? No, I've fought demons from Hell, and none of them had such bizarre abilities!" Seeing the Martian Manhunter floating towards him again, Ross was filled with frustration. He had immense power, but it was useless against the Martian Manhunter, leaving him at a loss for how to fight back. "Bang!" "Bang!" "Bang!" The Martian Manhunter, seeing Ross's frustration, showed no mercy. He had been suppressed by Ross for quite some time, and if not for his incredible physique and healing abilities, his body would have been covered in wounds by now. So, the Martian Manhunter was determined to get his revenge, knowing he could definitely break Ross's defenses. Even if he couldn't deal a heavy blow in one strike, repeated attacks would do the job just as well.
"Damn it!" The tide of the battle had completely turned. Ross's body was covered in wounds, and although they were healing, they couldn't keep up with the Martian Manhunter's attacks. This filled Ross with rage. Earlier, not being able to hit the Martian Manhunter had caused some unsettling thoughts to creep into his mind. But now, being repeatedly beaten down, those thoughts vanished, leaving Ross only with the desire to kill the Martian Manhunter. "Ha, angry now? Too bad your rage is useless. No matter how mad you get, you can't even touch a hair on my head..." The Martian Manhunter, having vented his frustrations, smiled coldly at Ross, thinking it was quite amusing to see him so furious yet helpless.
"Buzz!" Suddenly, a terrifying psychic force surged from the Martian Manhunter's mind, directly targeting Ross and fueling his anger... or rather, pouring oil on the fire. Perhaps the Martian Manhunter's psychic power was too strong, or maybe Ross had no resistance to it. In any case, the Martian Manhunter's manipulation was highly effective, driving Ross into a berserk rage, causing him to start attacking everything around him indiscriminately. "The mind is the most useful weapon. Muscles are just puppets to be controlled..." Watching Ross's rampage, the Martian Manhunter's previous frustrations melted away completely. In a great mood, he decided not to continue the fight, planning instead to take Bruce Banner and leave. However, there's a saying that joy turns to sorrow. By recklessly pushing Ross into a state of extreme anger without fully understanding his powers, the Martian Manhunter ended up bringing disaster upon himself.
"Whoosh!" Yes, it was truly a disaster. As Ross's fury peaked, his body began to emit intense heat, and slowly, flames started to ignite on him. "Thud!" At that moment, the Martian Manhunter was stunned. Not only did he revert to his original form, but he also collapsed to the ground, losing his superpowers. "Quick! Get me out of here!" The Martian Manhunter, realizing he had made a grave mistake, urgently shouted to Bruce Banner. He didn't call for Robert, knowing that even without his powers, Robert was probably laughing to himself, amused by how the Martian Manhunter had lost control of the situation due to his own abilities. The Martian Manhunter had to admit there had been some issues in this fight. His two major missteps during the battle shouldn't have happened. Given Ross's current state, he was clearly vulnerable to psychic control. If the Martian Manhunter had used his psychic powers to control Ross from the start, this battle wouldn't even have begun. Unfortunately, there was no chance to redo the fight. With Ross now on fire, the Martian Manhunter had lost the opportunity to turn things around and could only rely on Bruce Banner to get him out.
Bruce Banner, utterly confused by the sudden turn of events, couldn't understand how the Martian Manhunter, who had seemed so confident moments ago, was now collapsed on the ground asking for help. Was he exhausted? "Huh? Oh!" But there was no time to think. Banner quickly grabbed
the Martian Manhunter and, taking advantage of Ross's brief distraction, bolted towards the exit. "Trying to run?! Die!" The furious General Ross saw Banner fleeing and, eyes blazing with rage, hurled a fiery punch in his direction. "Not good!" Banner exclaimed, not daring to counterattack. He chose to dodge Ross's attack instead.
"Buzz!" At that moment, the flames from Ross's punch were stopped by an invisible force, preventing them from reaching Banner. "Banner, take him and leave. Once you're out, he should recover. Then let him take you back to the base..." A calm voice echoed, causing a flicker of embarrassment in the green-tinted face of the Martian Manhunter. "Oh! Got it!" Banner, without a hint of embarrassment, quickly responded and continued running, leaving the fierce General Ross to Robert without even looking back. "Stop!" Seeing Banner escape, the already enraged General Ross grew even more furious. He roared and charged towards Banner, but a figure blocked his path. "Get out of my way!" Ross bellowed, swinging a fiery punch at Robert. "Smack!" In the next moment, Ross's punch was blocked, and the flames on his fist were suppressed. "Bang!" Immediately after, Ross was struck hard, sending him flying backward.
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