"Traces of Hulks were found in Siena"
"Let's move quickly then," said Bruce, impatient to get rid of all the subjects created with his blood as soon as possible.
Although they knew the origin, General Thaddeus Ross, the lack of evidence made it impossible to act directly against him due to his high position.
Steve looked at Tony.
"What about…?"
"She won't come," Tony replied, curt, "I don't know if you remember, but two weeks ago her partner of half a decade was publicly judged. Let her rest a bit."
"Fine, let's not fight," Bruce intervened, "Let's hurry."
---
In a village among the snowy mountains of Siena, a smuggler was negotiating with his client in a dark alley.
"Is this it?" asked the hooded man in front of him.
"That's right," the smuggler replied with a merchant's smile, "A single dose and you could face ten people with the strength of Captain America."
"How much?"
The smuggler raised three fingers.
"Three thousand? Deal."
"Do you think I'm selling candy? How much do you think it costs to get this? It's three hundred thousand dollars. If you don't agree, get lost." He looked at him with disdain.
"Fine, I'll come back in a week with the money."
The supposed buyer walked away with a greedy smile, imagining what he would gain. But as he got farther, his expression changed completely. He went straight to a discreet hotel, asked for a room, and once inside, his disguise vanished, revealing her true appearance, a red-haired woman.
"I got it. Their base is in a carpet shop, south of the commercial district. They have a hidden second basement," Wanda reported, transmitting everything she had discovered after entering the smuggler's mind.
The objective was not only to eliminate those trafficking the drug, but to track the bases themselves to find proof of its origin.
"Lead us," Steve ordered.
Wanda nodded and guided them there.
But what they found was not what they expected. The entire commercial district was in ruins, hundreds of bodies scattered, buildings destroyed as if an earthquake had struck.
The citizens, upon seeing them, showed a moment of hope. Until they recognized Dr. Banner among them. Then their faces turned to fear.
"D-don't come closer… monster."
The reaction multiplied, and people began to back away, terrified.
The Avengers wanted to investigate, but no one would talk to them.
"I hacked the security cameras, I have images of what happened," Vision announced, projecting what had occurred.
In the recording, the street was lit by hundreds of stalls crowded with customers and merchants. It was the usual nighttime chaos. But that disorder was nothing compared to what erupted when a green giant fell from the sky, tearing apart a specific shop and then everything around it, ignoring the lives nearby. Despite the darkness, the figure was unmistakable to all, Hulk.
The strange thing was that, at the same time, Banner had been with them.
"No…" Bruce immediately denied, "I learned long ago to control it. I wouldn't cause all those deaths. Most likely it was someone using the drug made from my blood."
However, inside he was unsettled. That figure did not resemble the cheap copies he had faced before. Its strength and form were on par with Hulk.
"Even so, its target was clearly the smugglers' base. Why would it attack there?" Steve asked.
"I don't know, but we have to find out," Banner replied.
They searched for hours, but found nothing useful, no clues to the origin of the drug or traces of the other Hulk.
Worse still, Vision's video came from a security camera, which meant the footage was easily obtainable and leakable. And so it was, by the next day it was already circulating all over the internet.
In the following weeks, the situation worsened. The supposed Hulk appeared in more places, causing destruction. Public opinion began to demand that Bruce Banner surrender to justice.
If Leonardo had done it, why not him? That was what many thought.
The pressure grew. Until new information began spreading online, details about the attacked sites, about Hulk's blood and what had been created from it.
Tony was the first to try to trace and erase the responsible party, but he failed. With his intelligence he immediately knew that whoever was behind it was not acting out of goodwill, this information would not clear Hulk's image, but rather redirect people's anger elsewhere.
And that was exactly what happened. Public conversation shifted toward the idea of control.
Even if Banner, or what they believed was Banner, had had reasons to attack, the truth was that there had also been innocent victims. Confinement was not a viable option. The most reasonable solution, according to public opinion, was to keep him under control.
It was the second time governmental supervision of an Avenger was proposed, and once again, the heroes rejected it outright.
---
One day, Tony called a press conference on behalf of the Avengers to address the situation.
"Mr. Stark, may I know the reason why the Avengers' activities have decreased in recent months?" asked a journalist.
"Because crime went down, of course," Tony replied, lying shamelessly. Although it was true that the crime rate had dropped, the real reason was the internal tensions within the group, which led them to act separately on missions. That made people see individual heroes and not the team as such.
"What do you think of the Defenders? They are making a name for themselves and some say they could replace you," asked another.
"The Avengers are irreplaceable. Even if we ever dissolve, we will not be replaced but imitated. The next generations will follow our example," Tony replied with confidence.
"Mr. Stark, why don't you build armor for everyone?"
"Because it wouldn't make sense," said Tony as if he had been asked the most absurd question in the world, "We are a group precisely because each of us has unique abilities for different situations. If everyone had armor, they would only be limited. If you want an army of armors, there's the Iron Legion."
He paused and smiled.
"Of course there are special armors, designed for extreme scenarios, underwater, a volcano… even space. Next question."
"Do you believe that, after the retirement of Leonardo Valentino, crime will rise?"
"Of course," Tony said with a confident smile, "There are always fools who think we are weaker. But the situation will stabilize soon."
He raised his hands to stop the questions.
"Alright, too many questions. Let's get to the point. The reason for this conference is simple."
The screens behind him lit up showing images.
"I present to you the Avengers Organization initiative."
The journalists listened carefully, asking questions as Tony continued his presentation.
'Good, attention diverted… for the moment,' he thought as he smiled at the cameras.
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