As Bruce Banner's second personality, Hulk may have only existed for a few years, but he had already developed some rudimentary thinking. Though far from the cleverness he once displayed on Sakaar under the Grandmaster, he had learned enough through Bruce's thoughts to understand one thing—this object couldn't be kept.
While he still couldn't speak coherently, Hulk understood Bruce's intention to use the object to make a wish—to eliminate him. And how could Hulk ever allow that?
So, as soon as he seized control of the body, Hulk immediately threw away Bruce's Dragon Ball.
Had he been smarter, Hulk might have made the same wish—eliminate Bruce and leave only Hulk behind.
Watching Hulk's behavior, Ross picked up his radio and asked,
"What did he just throw?"
One of the soldiers quickly reported,
"General, it looked like some kind of spherical object. It was too fast—we couldn't get a good look."
Blonsky added,
"Orange-colored, about the size of a baseball. There were yellow stars inside, but I don't know what it was exactly."
Thanks to his enhanced vision, Blonsky had at least gotten a better look at the object Hulk discarded.
Since they couldn't identify it, Ross shifted focus.
"Team A—open fire."
Betty, however, silently took note of the direction Hulk had thrown it.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Assault rifles and machine guns opened fire on Hulk in a continuous barrage.
Though these weapons couldn't pierce Hulk's skin, he could still feel the pain and irritation. Roaring in anger, he charged toward the shooters.
"Focus fire!" Ross shouted.
Seeing that standard weapons were ineffective, he called out,
"What about the .50 cal guns? Hurry up!"
Several jeeps equipped with heavy machine guns sped onto the battlefield, firing at Hulk to draw his attention and lure him away from the soldiers.
Rat-a-tat-tat!
Gun barrels began to overheat, but the bullets only caused sparks—no injuries. Still, they did the job of drawing Hulk's attention.
He abandoned the soldiers and charged the jeeps. One shoulder check sent a vehicle flying.
But there was always another one. The attacks never stopped.
Enraged, Hulk stomped on the hood of another jeep, crushing it, then picked it up and smashed it into pieces—finally hurling its engine block into another car.
BOOM!
The sheer force of the throw pierced through two jeeps and triggered a small explosion.
A group of college students arrived at the scene just in time to witness the chaos. Shocked, they whipped out their phones and started filming, uploading the footage straight to YouTube.
…
Inside a private villa—
Tony Stark was testing his latest armor when J.A.R.V.I.S. spoke.
"Sir, a new video has just appeared on YouTube. I believe it will be of interest."
"Play it," Tony said.
Seconds later, footage of Hulk fighting the military played on the screen.
"When was this taken?"
"Just moments ago," J.A.R.V.I.S. replied. "The battle appears to still be ongoing, though there are no public surveillance feeds in the area."
Tony didn't hesitate.
"That big green guy is tanking heavy machine guns with his bare body. Let's hope I'm not too late."
With that, Tony launched straight from his garage, flying directly toward the scene.
While in the air, he instructed J.A.R.V.I.S. to send a message to Smith Dole.
"Hey, buddy. There's a big one at Culver University, Virginia. Big green guy—you'll want to see this."
"Time for the two of us to make an appearance."
At that moment, Smith Dole had just been pondering how to bring up the topic of the Dragon Balls with Tony—how to initiate the Dragon Ball conflict.
Then he got Tony's message.
"Master," Fox the assistant AI called out. "You have a message from Tony Stark."
"Play it."
Hearing Tony's message, Smith immediately pieced it together—this must be General Ross surrounding Bruce Banner at the university.
Since Tony had invited him, and this was the perfect opportunity to talk about the Dragon Ball war, he didn't hesitate. He used Bukūjutsu (Flight Technique) and headed straight for the battlefield.
…
Back on the battlefield—
Blonsky had a squad of elite soldiers covering him while he carried a grenade launcher, intending to lure Hulk toward a prepared sonic cannon setup.
BOOM!
A grenade exploded directly on Hulk's body, making him stagger for a moment.
But once the smoke cleared—no visible injuries.
Blonsky's pupils contracted. Not even grenades could hurt him?
His heart was filled with envy. Even though he had become vastly stronger, he was still no match for a monster like this.
At that moment, Hulk picked up a piece of scrap metal to use as a shield. Blonsky took the opportunity to fire another grenade.
BOOM!
Hulk stumbled again. Blonsky followed with a third round.
BOOM!
This time, Hulk raised the makeshift shield and blocked it successfully.
Seeing it work, Hulk grabbed another piece of metal, wielding one shield in each hand now.
With both shields up, he locked eyes on Blonsky with murderous intent.
"Remember me?" Blonsky called out and fired his last grenade.
BOOM!
Then Blonsky ran full speed toward the sonic cannon setup, knowing better than to waste time showing off his sidearm tricks.
If grenades were useless, what hope did a pistol have?
Now, the pistol was merely bait to keep Hulk focused on him.
Blonsky fired occasional shots behind him to keep Hulk chasing, making sure the green behemoth didn't target anyone else.
Soon he reached the sonic cannon setup and yelled,
"Fire!"
Blonsky leapt and rolled to the side mid-air, dodging just as Hulk charged in.
BZZZZZTTT
Even though he dodged, the edge of the sonic blast caught him—he collapsed to the ground, clutching his ears in pain.
But Hulk, who took the full blast head-on, suffered even worse.
What the soldiers didn't realize, however, was that this only made Hulk angrier—boosting his strength even further.
…
(End of Chapter)
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