BOOM
The car door Hulk had thrown slammed into the truck carrying the sonic weapon. In seconds, the whole thing was crushed flat. It crumpled like tin foil before it exploded in a massive fireball. Orange and black flames shot up into the sky, so bright that even the tough soldiers had to look away.
Just like that, half their sonic weapons were gone. The one cannon they had left wasn't going to cut it.
Hulk wasn't done. His shadow fell over the second sonic cannon.
CRACK
Like a thunderclap, his giant foot came down hard and the weapon was completely destroyed.
From where he was hiding in the shadows, Daniel nodded slightly to himself.
Sure, technology was powerful, but even the best weapons had their limits. They were only as strong as what they were made from. The U.S. military had some seriously impressive gear, no doubt about it. But at the end of the day, metal was just metal. Circuits were just delicate glass threads.
Hulk was way beyond all that.
Daniel figured that maybe if the military got their hands on all of Wakanda's vibranium and rebuilt everything with that, they might actually be able to control the whole planet.
But even that wouldn't be enough to take on the universe.
Out there in space, there were weapons that could destroy entire planets, collapse moons, wipe out whole species without breaking a sweat. Earth thinking it was hot stuff with its weapons? That was just wishful thinking. Still, Daniel filed away the idea of mixing vibranium with magic enchantments. Could be useful someday.
But right now, he needed to focus on what was happening. He looked over at General Ross.
Things were getting worse fast. Hulk was getting angrier by the second, and that meant he was getting stronger too. Pretty soon, Daniel was going to have to jump in himself.
To give Ross credit, he didn't waste time.
"Attack helicopters—go in! Hit him with everything! Everyone else—get out of here!"
The general's voice cut through the chaos over the radio. Even with everything going crazy, he could still think straight: They were losing this fight. All their carefully planned backup plans had failed. The sonic weapons were toast. Hulk was running wild. Their only choices now were to run away or blow up the whole area.
However, they couldn't blow up Manhattan.
Ross had his limits. If he ordered tanks and artillery to fire on a college campus, the politicians would destroy his career. Even if they managed to stop Hulk, the backlash would be terrible. Public outrage. International headlines. He'd probably lose everything.
So he played his last card.
Get Hulk away from civilians. Buy time and figure out a new plan.
Or, he thought grimly, call up Stark and beg for help.
Meanwhile, Betty Ross heard the retreat order and felt a wave of relief wash over her. Her clenched fists relaxed. Hulk had stopped moving forward—he was just standing there, roaring and furious but not advancing.
But just when it looked like things might calm down a bit...
Blonsky came charging forward.
Daniel shook his head.
The guy had a death wish.
Blonsky didn't just ignore General Ross's order—he completely blew it off. He ran straight at Hulk with a knife in his hand, then stopped right in front of the monster. He was breathing hard, his face twisted with frustration and self-hatred... and something else.
Pure bitterness.
"I worked so damn hard to get strong," Blonsky said through gritted teeth, staring up at the green giant. "And this is it? This is all you've got?"
He was trying to sound tough and mocking, but you could hear the defeat in his voice. He wasn't really asking Hulk a question—he was screaming about his own failures.
"Blonsky, back off!" Ross barked over the radio, his voice shaking with real worry for the first time.
But it was too late.
Blonsky pulled out his earpiece and dropped it on the ground. He wasn't taking orders from Ross anymore. Technically, since he was British military working with NATO, he was kind of like a hired gun anyway. Now he'd basically signed his own death warrant.
"You think you're better than me?"
He smiled, and Hulk just stood there silently.
Then everything happened at once.
One devastating kick from Hulk's right leg sent Blonsky flying through the air like a rag doll for over 200 feet. When he hit the ground, it sounded like a bag of cement dropping. His body was completely broken—limbs twisted, spine bent in impossible ways. Daniel could see from far away that every bone in the guy's body was shattered.
Hulk roared again, even louder this time. The kind of roar that shattered windows and sent every bird for miles flying away in terror. He was getting angrier, and that meant more powerful.
"Fall back! Everyone out NOW!" Ross yelled again.
He knew how this worked. When Hulk got emotionally hurt or someone pushed his buttons, he went nuclear. But if everyone cleared out and there was nobody left to fight, he might actually calm down.
It was the only way to keep people alive.
But not everyone listened.
Betty Ross was still there.
While all the soldiers were pulling back, she snuck past them, drawn toward Hulk like a magnet. Her father didn't see her—a big armored truck was blocking his view.
She walked slowly, one step at a time, getting closer to him.
Ross, who had no idea she was there, shouted into his radio again. "Open fire! Hit him before he gets away!"
The helicopter gunship didn't hesitate. A thunderous roar filled the air as it unleashed a storm of bullets. They tore through the air and hammered into the ground like deadly metal rain.
Betty panicked, stumbled, and fell.
She screamed.
Hulk roared back.
But before he could get to her, someone else was faster.
In the blink of an eye, some kind of invisible energy shimmered between Betty and certain death. There was a crackling sound, and then a figure appeared next to her, scooping her up and jumping backward through the hail of bullets.
Daniel.
Ross couldn't believe what he was seeing.
"Stop firing! STOP FIRING!" he screamed, but it was too late.
The bullets kept coming—until something impossible happened.
They just bounced off.
Dozens of high-speed rounds hit some kind of invisible shield around Daniel like they'd smacked into bulletproof glass. A shimmering barrier rippled around him like an unbreakable bubble. He held Betty safely in his arms, protecting her with his own body, and smoothly moved back toward safety.
Ross could only stare in shock.
Who the hell is that guy?
CRASH
Hulk, now completely out of his mind with rage, grabbed another car door and hurled it like a frisbee. It smashed into the helicopter in mid-air, sending it spinning wildly out of control. A second later, it exploded in a ball of fire and began crashing into the ground.
And who was it aimed at?
Daniel.
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