"But you never said we'd be fighting in the middle of a city."
Banner frowned.
He let out a self deprecating laugh.
"The moment I let that monster out, you'll see who the real danger is."
Every time the Hulk had appeared, he'd left catastrophic destruction in his wake. He was an uncontrollable bomb, practically a nuke!
Dr. Banner didn't believe anything could stop an enraged Hulk, nor did he think any enemy existed that warranted unleashing him.
"We've already evacuated the surrounding blocks ahead of time."
Pierce said.
He might be Hydra, but Hydra's goal wasn't to exterminate everyone on the planet. They simply wanted to overthrow the old order and establish a new one under Hydra's rule.
They wanted a new world, not a wasteland.
"If the situation weren't dire enough, we wouldn't want that monster appearing either." Pierce added with a sigh.
"Dr. Banner, you've been away from New York too long. You don't know what's been happening."
He displayed a video for Banner to see. It showed the footage S.H.I.E.L.D. had gathered of Bant fighting in his various alien hero forms.
The screen showed the fiery being battling a monstrous creature atop Stark Tower, Diamondhead and Four Arms fighting the Destroyer and Loki in New Mexico, and an icy specter flash freezing an entire S.H.I.E.L.D. base in an instant.
Banner fell completely silent.
He clasped his hands together, fingers fidgeting restlessly. He asked in disbelief, "Are you sure you're not showing me some sci fi movie?"
"Is there anything more sci fi than the Hulk?"
"...Fair point."
"Now you understand why we need your strength."
Banner nodded, then asked another question.
"And that other man from earlier... who is he?"
He meant Thor.
Honestly, Banner knew better than anyone just how destructive he could be. If S.H.I.E.L.D. had placed that man in the same room as him, did that mean the other guy possessed formidable power too?
"That's a more complicated story."
Pierce didn't elaborate. There was no need to explain Asgardian matters to Banner.
He had hoped to recruit Thor as a countermeasure in case Steve Rogers managed to lift Mjolnir again. But that Asgardian refused to acknowledge anything beyond his hammer.
After cursing Pierce out thoroughly, Thor had simply flared his nostrils in anger and walked out.
Pierce was furious, but he didn't dare do anything to Thor.
Having read the intel on Asgard, he understood the terrifying power of that realm. Even a fallen prince stripped of his power wasn't someone Hydra could afford to provoke.
The best course of action was to maintain the status quo.
Besides, Mjolnir was still under S.H.I.E.L.D. supervision anyway. No need to worry.
Truth be told, if not for the threat of those powerful aliens, Pierce wouldn't have even considered recruiting Banner.
The man was an uncontrollable ticking time bomb. The optimal solution was to wait until Project Insight was online, then eliminate him covertly.
If Bant knew what Pierce was thinking, he'd have laughed himself sick.
Pierce probably believed that if he could just find the right moment, he could kill Banner before he transformed and neutralize the threat.
But in reality, Banner and the Hulk were one and the same.
BOOM!!
A sudden explosion interrupted Pierce's thoughts and seized his attention.
Banner instantly tensed up, his skin starting to tint green.
He glared around viciously, only relaxing slightly once he confirmed the blast wasn't part of some S.H.I.E.L.D. trap meant for him.
At that moment, an agent scrambled into the room.
"What's happening?"
"It's Nick Fury and his group! They've broken out of the Prismos Building!"
"Apprehend them immediately!"
Pierce shouted excitedly.
He'd been waiting for Nick Fury to walk right into the trap!
But the agent's expression was uneasy. He stammered, "Well... we don't have enough firepower..."
"Are you kidding me?!"
Pierce slammed his hand on the table, enraged.
"I pulled every tank in the vicinity from the military, and you're telling me we don't have enough firepower!"
He reached out, grabbed the agent by the head, and shoved him aside in frustration. Then he activated the visual feed to assess the situation firsthand.
The moment the screen lit up, a green monster lunged forward with jaws wide open!
Pierce stumbled back in fright.
Then he realized it was just the live footage.
"What the hell kind of monster have you people cooked up now..."
Banner stepped forward, his voice laced with anger and disgust.
He was suddenly reminded of the Abomination.
"This wasn't our doing."
Pierce said quickly.
"The Lizard Doctor. Connors. Oscorp had been treating him, claiming it was therapy. Turns out he's been hiding at Prismos."
What surprised him even more was that everyone else was at Prismos too.
"Dr. Banner, it seems we'll need you to step in sooner than expected."
Back at Prismos.
Connors, his body now as massive as a tank, descended from above and caught the agents completely off guard.
His tough scales allowed him to rampage through their ranks without restraint. His claws, sharp as daggers, slashed outward and tore through several enemies in an instant!
With his sheer size, Connors was like a force of nature unleashed among ordinary men, free to slaughter at will.
But S.H.I.E.L.D.'s equipment wasn't just for show. Soon, Connors was drawing the brunt of the heavy firepower.
Tank shells hammered into him one after another, scorching his scales black.
Yet he didn't retreat a single step. Instead, the battle frenzy only ignited his primal instincts. His eyes turned blood red, and his body seemed to swell even larger!
"ROAR!"
Connors let out a bellowing roar and charged straight through the gunfire toward the tanks!
He snatched incoming shells out of the air, crushing some in his grip and biting through others with his teeth.
The heavy tanks were like toys to him. He flipped them over effortlessly. Their steel cannon barrels bent like rubber hoses in his hands.
Right behind Connors, Peter and the others leaped down from the sky and joined the fray.
Steve hurled his shield, instantly taking down several agents.
Harry swooped low on his glider, scattering Pumpkin Bombs that blasted clusters of agents off their feet.
Peter bounded and flipped through the chaos, webbing up agent after agent.
Nick Fury, uncharacteristically on the front lines himself, fought alongside Hill and Natasha against the S.H.I.E.L.D. forces.
High above, perched on the building's edge, Barton provided covering support.
"Activate energy shields!"
An agent shouted. Instantly, translucent blue barriers shimmered into existence, blocking all incoming attacks.
"You think that trick's going to work on us again? Take a look around! Where do you think you are?"
Peter retaliated by tossing a device into the air. An invisible electromagnetic pulse wave rippled outward, instantly frying the agents' energy shield equipment.
That done, he whipped out several neurotoxin discs and flung them. Any agent struck collapsed in convulsions, completely incapacitated.
He wasn't the only one equipped with the discs. The others had them too. The toxin could seep through clothing, as long as it wasn't too thick, and into the skin.
It made dealing with the sheer number of agents significantly easier.
"Prismos tech is way too handy!" Nick Fury remarked as he dropped two more agents.
Steve leaped, caught his rebounding shield mid air, and landed with a kick that sent two agents flying before smashing a third with the shield's edge.
With that, he vaulted onto the roof of a black sedan, raising his shield to draw enemy fire.
That Vibranium alloy shield wasn't just indestructible. It practically functioned as a taunt. A dense volley of bullets homed in on it relentlessly.
Elsewhere, Peter found himself facing off against the NYPD.
"Spider-Man, surrender now!"
Chief Stacy used a patrol car for cover and kept firing his pistol at Peter.
On a battlefield like this, the police officers' gear seemed almost laughable.
Peter casually shot a web line, yanking the pistol from Stacy's hand, then strung up a few officers from a building ledge.
"Chief Stacy, stop! I don't want to fight you! You're being used!"
"Shut up, you criminal!"
"No, this is a setup!"
Peter kept trying to explain. These officers were different from the Hydra agents. He didn't want to hurt anyone.
Stacy also sensed something was off. But in his mind, whatever the issue was, he had to apprehend these fugitives first and let the courts sort it out later.
Peter fended off the police attacks with ease. It should have been a simple task. But suddenly, his Spider Sense screamed a warning.
A grenade sailed through the air and detonated dangerously close to Peter!
BOOM!!
Several police cars were flipped over instantly. The officers at the front line were caught in the shockwave, sent flying backward. Chief Stacy hit the ground hard. When he looked up, a tumbling police car was bearing down on him.
Stacy squeezed his eyes shut in terror, bracing for death.
But the crushing impact never came.
"Get out of here, Chief!"
He opened his eyes and witnessed an incredible sight.
A massive web stretched out before him, acting like a great wall that had caught and held dozens of police cars. And at the other end of that web—
Was Spider-Man!
With one hand, Peter caught the fist of the attacker who had thrown the grenade. With his other arm, he held back the weight of dozens of police cars, saving every single officer.
The scene struck Stacy to his core.
He'd had his suspicions before. But now he couldn't help questioning everything. He might not like Spider-Man, but there was no way Spider-Man was truly an evil criminal.
Peter, however, had no time to dwell on Stacy's epiphany.
He turned his attention to his attacker. The man wore gear similar to Mr. Barnes, clearly another super soldier.
And he wasn't alone. Three more Winter Soldiers had entered the battlefield.
"Watch out! Winter Soldiers!"
Nick Fury shouted a warning.
Having been attacked by one himself, he knew exactly how dangerous they were.
But individual capabilities varied. No sooner had Fury shouted than Peter yanked his opponent forward with a flick of his wrist, pulling the Winter Soldier right into his range. Peter then launched a powerful kick that sent the man hurtling back dozens of meters.
Peter scratched his head and spread his hands wide.
Winter Soldiers? That's it?
While Peter dispatched his opponent with ease, the others were having a much harder time.
Steve faced off against two Winter Soldiers simultaneously. Both were super soldiers, and their coordinated assault pushed him to his limits. Fists and feet flew in a blur.
Another Winter Soldier targeted Harry.
Bucky hadn't lasted more than a few exchanges against Harry before, but that was when Harry had been fully equipped. This time, the Winter Soldier came prepared, disabling Harry's glider right from the start.
Coupled with the fact that Harry had already expended much of his arsenal against the agents, even with Natasha joining to assist, they were locked in a brutal struggle.
The one silver lining was that Harry's armor was tough.
The Winter Soldier sprayed submachine gun fire at Natasha with one hand while charging Harry with a combat knife in the other.
Every Winter Soldier was a master of multiple combat disciplines. The suppressive fire kept Natasha pinned down, and one handed knife fighting proved more than enough against Harry, whose close combat skills were lacking.
However,
"My presence might be subtle, but don't overlook me entirely."
High on a rooftop, Hawkeye nocked a specialized arrow and took aim at the Winter Soldier.
THWIP!
The arrow flew.
The Winter Soldier sensed it, spinning around and slashing at the projectile with his knife.
But the instant his blade met the arrowhead, Hawkeye's shot exploded. The blast engulfed the Winter Soldier in flames.
At the same moment.
Steve finally managed to subdue the two Winter Soldiers he'd been fighting.
Seeing this, Nick Fury's excitement surged.
"Do we really need public support?"
"Let's just counterattack!"
He shouted.
"Pierce! What else have you got?!"
But then, a terrifying shockwave rolled over the battlefield.
BOOM!!!
A green blur plummeted from the sky like a meteor, slamming into the center of the street with earth shattering force.
The pavement cratered instantly. A cloud of dust billowed up, and from within it, the monster's terrifying roar rippled outward in visible sonic waves.
"What the hell?!"
Peter yelled.
He hadn't processed what was happening yet, but the faces of Nick Fury and the others went pale immediately.
"The big guy's here..."
We're screwed!
Natasha looked utterly despairing and shot Nick Fury a venomous glare.
"Did you absolutely have to open your big mouth?"
The group was intimately familiar with Banner's file. In fact, the peaceful life Banner had enjoyed recently was partly thanks to Nick Fury running interference with the military.
But never in his wildest dreams did Fury imagine that one of his coveted Avengers recruits would be snatched up by Pierce.
And not just any recruit, but the strongest one!
The Hulk emerged slowly from the dust cloud. His savage gaze swept over everyone present before finally settling on Connors, whose dinosaur like form actually stood slightly taller than the Hulk.
Then, a savage grin spread across the Hulk's face.
He slammed his enormous fists together with a resounding crack, then launched himself across dozens of meters in a single bound, barreling straight toward Connors!
"HULK SMASH!"
/-\
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