"Little bug," the Hulk sneered as Ben emerged from the shattered entrance of the Primus Building, his massive green face twisting into a mocking expression. "One after another, they just keep coming."
Ben walked slowly past Steve, pausing just long enough to whisper, "If my cousin were here, he'd definitely tell you that spiders are arachnids, not bugs."
"YOU ARE BUG!" Hulk roared back, his simple mind only grasping the core of the insult he was trying to deliver.
"Prime, you're no match for him," Steve rasped, struggling to support his upper body. He reached out a trembling hand, grabbing Ben's ankle in a desperate attempt to stop him from walking to his death. Steve had seen Ben's capabilities in his Prime identity, and while impressive, they seemed to be on par with Peter's. Against this monster, that was tantamount to suicide.
Ben crouched, meeting Steve's worried gaze. "Why don't you summon Mjolnir to fight?"
The Hulk was incredibly strong, Thor possessed power sufficient to rival the green giant. When Ben had first seen the Hulk appear, he'd been surprised but not overly concerned, believing Captain America had an ace up his sleeve. But the battle had become this brutal, and with Steve still relying on his own two hands, Ben knew he had to step forward himself.
Hearing the question, Steve's face filled with a profound sense of guilt and shame. "I'm not worthy," he admitted, his voice barely a whisper.
He'd discovered this painful truth while they were escaping the SHIELD facility. Facing wave after wave of Hydra agents, he had reached out with his will, trying to summon Thor's hammer, but there had been no response. Mjolnir remained silent. Steve knew why. It was because he had chosen to hide the truth from Tony to protect Bucky—a single, selfish desire that had cost him the hammer's recognition. He felt pathetic, diminished. At this moment, he'd lost both the hammer's acknowledgment and the trust of his nation. He was no longer Captain America, just a wanted criminal. Not a good soldier, and maybe not a good man, either.
Seeing the desolate look on the captain's face, Ben let the heavy chains wrapped around his forearms fall to the ground with a metallic clatter. "Captain, you know, I've never been your biggest fan," he said, his voice sharp. "But Peter has always regarded you as his idol. Right now, he's out there doing everything he can, and you're lying here spouting defeatist nonsense. Frankly, that really pisses me off."
He straightened up. "Now, let me handle this big guy. Don't you forget your own mission."
With that, Ben turned and began walking toward the Hulk.
"Wait…" Steve tried to stop him again. Compared to the Hulk, Ben looked impossibly frail; his arms weren't even as thick as one of the Hulk's fingers. "You're no match for him. Let me—"
"When did you get the illusion," Ben said, turning his head slightly, "that I was no match for him?"
On his black-and-white Prime suit, faint blue arcs of energy began to dance like crackling serpents. In an instant, a powerful aura erupted from Ben's body, swirling around him like a hurricane with him at its epicenter. For a second, Steve thought Ben had somehow summoned Thor's power without the hammer.
Could it be…?
"Can you win?" Steve asked, a flicker of hope in his tired voice.
"We will win," Ben declared, his stride now filled with unshakable confidence as he approached the Hulk. "You're the challenger here!"
Though the line felt a bit ominous, Ben was genuinely certain of victory. The Hulk could continuously increase his strength as his anger grew, a process with virtually no upper limit. However, the emotion of anger itself had thresholds. Once it reached a certain plateau, it wouldn't escalate further without special stimulation. Of course, if the Hulk did break through that barrier, he would evolve into something even more dangerous. But Ben wasn't worried.
Four Arms would handle everything.
"That costumed freak actually thinks he can beat the Hulk?" Pierce sneered as he watched through the monitor feed. Even the monstrous Dr. Connors had been defeated decisively, let alone some wannabe Spider-Man. As far as Pierce knew, this vigilante's greatest achievement was taking down a single Green Goblin.
Seeing Ben approach the Hulk, Pierce leaned forward in his chair, eager to witness what he expected would be a brutal and swift execution. The Hulk, standing over three meters tall and radiating barely contained fury, towered over Ben like a small mountain. Pierce couldn't wait to see the arrogant fool torn to pieces.
Ben, however, calmly reached out and placed his open palm against the Hulk's abdomen.
Blue lightning erupted.
All the Old Power Ben had been storing was released in a single, devastating burst. For him, in this form, wielding the cosmic energy was like lighting a firework—brief but brilliant, a fleeting spectacle of incredible intensity.
Though momentary, it was devastatingly powerful.
Like a cannon blast, the concentrated cosmic energy launched the Hulk several kilometers through the air. The massive recoil from the blast turned the ground beneath Ben's feet to powder, leaving a smoking crater where he had stood.
Pierce was utterly stunned. Everyone was. Who could have thought that Ben, who appeared so comparatively frail, could send the Hulk flying with a single blow?
In truth, it was an inevitable result. The Hulk, blinded by his own rage and arrogance, had completely underestimated the "little bug," never taking him seriously enough to even brace for an attack. That fatal miscalculation resulted in him being launched clear out of New York City, crashing like a meteor into the empty suburbs.
Ben kicked off from the ground, a powerful leap carrying him in a high arc to follow up on his attack. In his human form, he couldn't continuously channel the Old Power; mastering it required time and a natural affinity he was still developing. This single attack had expended nearly all he had in reserve.
As for what came next…
"It's time for Four Arms!"
In the suburbs, Ben fell from the sky. As he descended, a brilliant green light flashed from his wrist. His body expanded dramatically in mid-air, his skin turning a deep, crimson red as four glowing eyes snapped open, blazing like a demon's gaze. From his ribs, a second pair of powerful arms burst forth.
Four Arms.
He hit the ground with the force of a wrecking ball, a perfect superhero landing that shattered the earth beneath him.
BOOM!
"The hero has arrived!" he declared, his voice a low growl. The transformation had amplified his desire for combat tenfold. All four of his eyes focused on the Hulk as he made a provocative gesture with his hands. "Getting slapped away by a little bug… is this all the mighty Hulk can do?"
The Hulk climbed out of the massive crater he'd created, his body steaming with pure rage. The attack had done minimal actual damage, but his pride was wounded beyond measure.
"HULK ANGRY!" he bellowed, clenching his fists so tightly his veins bulged as if they might burst. He glared at Four Arms with murderous intent. "Hulk will crush you first, then crush that little bug!"
With that, he lunged forward like a wild beast.
Seeing this, Ben felt the blood in his body begin to boil with anticipation. This reminded him of his glorious battle with Princess Looma on Sakaar—the only other time Four Arms had truly enjoyed a fight. Now, the Hulk represented another worthy opponent.
Ben didn't dodge. He didn't evade. He met the Hulk's charge head-on, throwing a punch that collided directly with the green giant's incoming fist.
BOOM!
It was as if two meteorites had crashed into each other. An invisible shockwave became visible, and the sonic boom it produced was even more powerful than the repulsor cannons on Peter's armor. The very rock and soil beneath their feet shattered from the impact.
In the first exchange, Ben was the clear victor.
The Hulk was knocked back several steps, and before he could react, Ben's other three arms were already swinging in a continuous combination of strikes. He pummeled the Hulk from all directions at once, the multi-directional assault making the green giant dizzy. The big guy didn't even have time to get properly angry before he was taking hits from three different angles simultaneously.
But as Ben launched his relentless attack, the Hulk's rage continued to build. His skin became harder, his body temperature rising to alarming levels. Eventually, Ben began to suspect that the blood in the Hulk's veins was literally boiling.
"ROAAAAAR!"
The Hulk unleashed a terrifying roar that transformed into a visible shockwave, rushing toward Ben. In response, Ben clapped all four of his hands together, releasing an even more powerful sonic boom of his own. The two waves of force collided, instantly pulverizing a ten-foot section of rocky ground between them.
"HULK TEAR YOU APART!"
The Hulk's rage had nearly reached a critical mass, and Four Arms had been expecting this escalation. The two monsters collided again with earth-shaking force. This time, Ben could clearly feel that the Hulk's power had become truly formidable. It was like colliding with a living mountain.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The wind from their punches snapped countless trees in half. The terrible shockwaves tore through the rocky earth. The deafening impacts spread to every corner of New York, causing widespread panic. The devastating pressure from their fists created a massive tornado that swept across the landscape, and a huge cocoon of dust and debris swirled around the two combatants.
At this moment, both fighters were evenly matched in raw power, with the Hulk actually possessing a slight advantage. His anger had reached its peak, his endless rage causing his body to emit a terrible steam and heat. With such overwhelming force, this should have been a crushing victory for the green giant.
And indeed, it was a crushing victory.
It's just that it was the Hulk who was being crushed.
Within the dark, swirling tornado, Ben's fists moved like a violent storm, constantly striking the Hulk's body with devastating precision. Every time the Hulk tried to retaliate, his sledgehammer blows were intercepted and redirected before they could connect.
Perhaps in this moment, the Hulk was indeed stronger in terms of raw power.
But Four Arms relied on much more than brute force alone.
He was a master of Khorosian war-arts, a fighting style born from a species bred for combat. He was a natural-born martial artist who had mastered every conceivable fighting style. He was born to fight. Every one of the Hulk's blows was met not with equal force, but with a precise parry that redirected the titan's momentum, an open-palmed strike to a nerve cluster, or a grappling move that used the Hulk's own strength against him.
And he also possessed the Old Power.
Within the tornado, red lightning roared, coating his fists in cosmic fury.