Ethan stood calmly at the edge of the crater, where Blonsky lay unconscious and broken, steam still rising from the smashed pavement. His posture was relaxed and put his hands in pockets, but his eyes gleamed with amusement and anticipation.
From the distance, the ground trembled.
A low growl echoed through the chaos as Hulk stomped forward. Towering at eight feet, his massive green form was hunched, his fists clenched and trembling with barely-contained rage. But strangely, he wasn't looking at Ethan—at first. His gaze was fixed on Blonsky's unmoving body.
A moment passed. Hulk's breathing was heavy, his chest rising and falling like a war drum echoing through silence. He stopped a few feet away from the crater, his massive green frame casting a looming shadow over the fallen Abomination.
Then, slowly, Hulk turned his gaze to Ethan and their eyes locked.
Ethan had a small, casual smile tugging at his lips — the kind of smirk that screamed confidence. No, worse. Arrogance. It was the look that said, I'm superior to you. I could break you... and I might just do it for fun.
It only made Hulk angrier.
Hulk's brows twitched, his nostrils flared, and his fists clenched tight. He didn't like that face. Not one bit.
And for reasons he didn't understand, Hulk suddenly wanted to punch that face more than anything.
With a roar that made car alarms go off down the block, Hulk leapt.
"Bruce, NO!" Betty screamed from the sidelines, her voice laced with desperation. She took a step forward, eyes wide with panic. "He's not the enemy—he saved people!"
But the Hulk didn't hear her.
Or didn't care.
He was already mid-air, his giant right fist cocked back and hurtling down at Ethan.
Ethan didn't flinch. His smirk widened slightly. 'Finally... something fun.'
He pulled back his own fist, deliberately choosing not to use his other powers or Phoenix force abilities. Just pure, raw physical strength.
Boom!
Their fists met with an earth-shattering crack that sent a concussive shockwave bursting out in all directions.
Several soldiers guarding General Ross were thrown backward like ragdolls. Even the news crew who are stupid enough to covering the scene since earlier was knocked off their feet.
Dust, rocks, and debris exploded from the point of impact like a bomb had gone off. Ross and Betty were also knocked back. News vans tipped. Cameras fell over. Glass shattered for blocks.
Ethan's feet remained planted—but Hulk skidded back slightly, leaving deep gouges in the pavement.
Before anyone could even register what happened, Ethan's body emitted a faint green glow—his eyes shimmering as Chronokinesis kicked in. Time itself slowed to a crawl. The air became thick. Dust froze mid-air. Shouts turned to deep, muffled echoes.
Ethan casually stepped forward and reached out toward Hulk.
With a wave of his hand, a space crack shimmered open behind them, a swirling vortex of reflective shards.
He grabbed Hulk by the shoulder while muttering, "Let's not wreck the city," and pulled them both into the Mirror Dimension.
-------------
Inside the Mirror Dimension
The sky twisted like broken glass. Buildings floated sideways. The laws of physics bent, shimmered, and warped.
Hulk stumbled slightly, looking around in utter confusion. The chaos outside was gone—but the new chaos of this realm was disorienting.
"Where...?" Hulk growled while his eyes darting around.
Ethan hovered a few feet above the fractured ground with his arms wide spread.
"Welcome to the Mirror Dimension," Ethan said with a cheeky grin. "My personal playground. In here, we don't have to care for innocent lives or property damage. Just you, me, and a whole lot of rage to burn."
"RAAARGHH!" Hulk roared, finally locking eyes with him.
"Oh, that's the spirit," Ethan chuckled. "Let's dance, big guy."
Ethan dropped to the ground, not using any special powers—just raw physical strength.
ROARRRR!
Hulk's bellow shattered nearby floating architecture, and he launched at Ethan again.
Ethan's smirk faded, just a little. 'Gotta be careful… too much output, and I'll end this fight too fast. I want to enjoy this one.'
Ever since his evolution—thanks to the Enhanced Fountain of Youth, the Phoenix Force, Chronokinesis, and his battle with Darkseid—Ethan had become something beyond comprehension. A being of impossible might.
He could've ended Blonsky in a blink.
But he dragged the fight out with childish taunts and fake missteps—just to see if Abomination would evolve with anger like the Hulk.
Unfortunately, he didn't. His growth stalled.
Ethan ended it with a casual punch, it's not even half of his power.
But Hulk… he was different. The angrier he got, the stronger he became.
He wanted to enjoy the fight. It had been a long time since he had a proper brawl.
So Ethan dodged the attacks thrown by Hulk and began taunting him, not just physically but verbally. "Oh, I thought you were supposed to be the strongest there is," he said in an exaggerated yawn. "Did someone lie to me?"
Hulk growled, louder.
Another roar followed by another punch with another miss.
Ethan twisted mid-air, somersaulted over Hulk's shoulder, and slammed both fists into his back, launching the behemoth into a mountain that cracked and bent into spirals.
"Your punches feel like pillows, buddy. Come on, put your back into it."
Hulk charged like a runaway freight train, but Ethan sidestepped effortlessly, delivering a swift punch to Hulk's ribs that sent him sprawling into a floating wall of shattered stone.
Before Hulk could recover, Ethan grabbed his ankle and swung him like a ragdoll into a crumbling tower.
Crash!
"You hit like a drunk toddler," Ethan taunted with a grin. "Come on! Aren't you supposed to be Earth's strongest?"
Hulk got up, roaring louder. His muscles tensed. His veins pulsed with gamma energy.
He came again—faster, stronger.
And again, Ethan dodged and countered. A palm strike to the chest. A spinning kick to the jaw. A shoulder slam that sent Hulk barreling through a broken mirror bridge.
"You punch like my toaster," Ethan said, deadpan.
Even Ethan winced slightly. 'Man, I'm starting to cringe at my own lines.'
But it worked.
The more he insulted, the angrier Hulk became. The angrier he became, the stronger he got. His veins bulged. His muscles swelled.
Ethan moved in again, this time throwing rapid punches—each one connecting, sending ripples of force through Hulk's body.
But the green beast kept getting up. Again and again... And again.
His eyes burned brighter. His body grew bulkier.
8 feet… 9 feet… 10 feet…
Ethan adjusted his strength output slightly, still holding back just enough to stay in control but not win outright. He wanted Hulk to keep evolving.
And Hulk did.
With every punch, every insult, his anger boiled hotter.
"Come on, Banner. I've fought squirrels tougher than you."
Another cringe line followed by another growth spurt.
11 feet… 12 feet…
The ground in the Mirror Dimension fractured under Hulk's steps now. Power rippled from his form. With a sudden burst of speed, he slammed both fists down—but Ethan blinked to the side, countering with a spinning kick that lifted Hulk off the ground only slightly.
And this time… Hulk landed on his feet.
'Good.' Ethan smiled internally. 'He's finally catching up.'
The real turning point came suddenly.
Hulk vanished in a blur of green fury—his speed now a blur to the average eye—and for the first time, connected.
BOOM!
Ethan was sent flying through six crystalline walls, flipping mid-air as he rebounded off a floating platform. He grinned as blood trickled from the corner of his lip.
"That's more like it," he whispered, wiping the blood with the back of his hand.
He slowly looked down at the back of his hand, watching few blood drops—for the first time in ages. It had been a long time since he had bled in a fight.
Hulk roared again, chest rising and falling, eyes glowing with fury and power. The ground beneath him cracked and floated. His body pulsated with strength rivaling or even surpassing Darkseid's at this point.
Ethan stood up slightly and smiled. "All right," he said in slightly serious tone. "Warm-up's over."
He cracked his knuckles and stretched his neck.
Hulk roared — a deep, primal roar that made the very fabric of the Mirror Dimension tremble.
Ethan's eyes narrowed as he stood tall amidst the mirrored reality. A moment ago, he had been smiling, weaving through Hulk's attacks like a leaf dancing in a storm. But now, that smile was gone.
Now, Ethan got serious.
Across from him, Hulk snarled, his massive frame now bursting with gamma energy. His skin glowed with a sickly green hue, and his eyes were blazing with pure rage. His power had evolved to a point far beyond Darkseid's—raw, primal and untamed.
Ethan's stance shifted, one foot behind the other, shoulders loose, hands relaxed but poised like a coiled serpent.
The playful aura was gone and the predator was out.
The fight began again.
BOOM!
Hulk's fists crashed toward Ethan like meteors, but Ethan parried the blows with practiced grace. Still, the force behind them was monstrous. Hulk was no longer the sluggish brute—he was fast, devastating, and relentless.
Fist met fist, skin met fury. It was no longer just brute force. Ethan's movements, refined by years of martial training — some under ancient masters, others under Diana herself — were fast, fluid, and brutally efficient. Where Hulk attacked with wild power, Ethan responded with calculated aggression.
Yet even with his technique, Ethan was being pushed back.
At first, they were evenly matched. Each impact rippled across the mirrored world, shaking structures and distorting space.
But then... Hulk's strength surged again.
The balance tipped.
Ethan was suddenly forced on the defensive, tossed across the twisted dimension like a ragdoll. Hulk's punches hammered into him, left and right, one after another, smashing Ethan through buildings of refracted glass and warping reality with every blow.
Then came the thunderclap.
CRACK!
Hulk clapped his massive hands together, unleashing a shockwave that sent Ethan spiraling across the sky, the very dimension shaking in its wake.
Ethan crashed into a rotating skyscraper, his form bouncing off its surface before flipping mid-air. Before he could recover, Hulk was on him again, fists swinging with reckless abandon.
"RAAAGGHH!!" Hulk roared.
But just as one punch was about to land—
WHAM!
A flash of movement happened and then Ethan's right fist—glowing faintly—uppercut Hulk clean across the jaw, lifting the behemoth several feet into the air.
Hulk growled, eyes locked onto Ethan mid-air, but something shifted.
Ethan's clothes—torn, bloodied—began to shimmer and reform, stitched back together by soft magical energy.
He stood upright, dusting himself off. His lips curled into a smile, blood still fresh on his chin.
"You think that was enough to bring me down?" Ethan's voice was calm, almost amused. "Nice try. But I've adapted now."
The glow in his eyes returned. "And it's time to end this."
Hulk didn't understand—he couldn't.
He only roared again and charged like an avalanche.
But this time… Ethan didn't dodge, he moved.
With speed that cracked the air, Ethan blurred forward, fists flying like lightning. Each strike was precise, efficient—bone-breaking. He wasn't just using his strength anymore. He was using his full adapted power, combined with expert martial arts, and Hulk couldn't keep up.
Ethan ducked, weaved, twisted under Hulk's blows.
Then retaliated.
A hook to the ribs.
A spinning elbow to the jaw.
A knee to the gut.
Every hit sent shockwaves through Hulk's massive frame.
He was being overwhelmed.
Hulk stumbled backward, disoriented.
Then came the skyward barrage.
Ethan delivered a devastating punch that sent Hulk flying. But before he could land—
WHAM! Ethan appeared above him.
WHAM! Another punch to the chest.
WHAM! Mid-air strike to the temple.
Hulk was a green comet being battered through the dimension, his roars echoing in fury and confusion.
And finally, with a thunderous crack, Hulk slammed into the ground, burrowing through mirrored layers of reality until he came to a skidding stop.
He lay motionless for a moment, groaning, the light in his eyes dimming.
Ethan floated down slowly, standing above him.
'This was good,' he thought. 'Really good.'
He flexed his fingers.
His body crackled with lightning—jagged bolts dancing across his limbs—while his right hand swirled with Phoenix flames, burning impossibly bright.
It was time.
Ethan vanished and in the blink of an eye, he reappeared in front of Hulk with his burning fist drawn back.
Hulk slowly opened his eyes—barely conscious—and for the briefest second, something flickered inside them.
Fear.
Their eyes met for a split second.
And for the first time… Hulk didn't just see an opponent.
He saw death—standing in the form of Ethan.
And then—
BOOOOOOOMMMM!
The punch landed square on Hulk's face — fire, lightning, and power coalescing in one glorious strike.
The explosion of lightning and flames shattered the Mirror Dimension in a single flash. Fragments of reality crumbled and collapsed as everything was swallowed in a blinding red inferno.
--------------
Back in the Real World…
Time resumed.
Dust settled again.
Betty Ross stirred on the ground, her ears ringing. She blinked rapidly, trying to focus.
Then she saw him.
Ethan—standing in the center of the crater, red flames rising from his body and faint lightning cracking across his arms like scars of power.
And a few feet away… Bruce Banner, no longer Hulk, lying unconscious and injured.
"Bruce!" Betty screamed.
She ran to him, dropped to her knees, and quickly examined him. Blood dripped from his mouth, several ribs clearly fractured. His breaths were shallow, wheezing.
"Oh my God," she whispered. "Bruce…"
She turned to Ethan, her eyes blazing with fury. "What the hell is wrong with you?! He's a man! Not some monster! How could you be so heartless!?"
Ethan raised a brow, genuinely confused. "Wait… I'm the bad guy here?" he muttered.
'…Seriously? He came at me like a nuclear warhead, and I'm the bad guy?'
He glanced around. Three Reporters were dazed but not seriously harmed. Ross's men were alert and visibly shaken.
And then came Thunderbolt Ross, walking forward with calculated steps.
The General nodded once.
"Well, thank you for the cleanup, young man," Ross said gruffly. "The military owes you one. Now, if you'll excuse me… I'll take custody of these two monsters."
Ross turned to signal his men.
Ethan's voice was calm but cutting. "Two monsters? I only see one."
Ross paused mid-step. "…Pardon?"
Ethan stepped closer, gesturing toward Banner. "That guy?" He pointed. "He's just a man. One I injured by mistake. Not a monster."
He met Ross's eyes coldly. "He's injured. And that… was my fault. I'll admit it and so, I'll take responsibility. I'll see he gets proper medical care—and I'll get him home personally."
The silence was thick.
Betty blinked, startled.
Even Ross didn't speak for a moment.
Then the general straightened. "Son… I don't think you understand the situation. That man is classified as a dangerous—"
"I wasn't asking," Ethan cut in, his voice suddenly razor-sharp. "I said I'm taking him. If you have a problem with that, get a warrant. You know where to find me since I am famous."
He stepped forward. The air around him shimmered with power. "You do understand the difference between 'asking' and 'telling,' don't you, General?"
Ross's lips tightened in rage. His fists clenched.
He wanted to argue — he should argue — But then his eyes flicked to the crater. To the unconscious Blonsky. To the broken banner.
To the man who had done all this without a scratch. A shiver ran down his spine when he saw Ethan's eyes.
That look in his eyes… it wasn't human.
This was the same man who had flattened two monsters. Alone without breaking a sweat.
Backing off now wasn't cowardice. It was strategy.
Ross swallowed his pride. "…Very well," he muttered, backing down. "But don't think this is over."
Ethan gave a faint smile. "Wouldn't dream of it."
Betty stared at him in disbelief as Ethan walked over and gently picked up Bruce like a sleeping child. He turned to her, voice soft.
"I'm sorry for hurting your boyfriend. It wasn't personal. Just… unfortunate. I'll make sure he gets proper treatment."
Betty didn't speak at first. She just nodded.
A swirling portal opened in front of them and Ethan stepped through.
After everything Ethan had just done, it was hardly surprising when he opened a portal out of nowhere.
Betty cast one last look at her father—standing still, silent and watching.
Then she turned… and disappeared into the light.