"Little bug."
Hulk spotted Bant stepping out of the Plasmus wreckage and a mocking grin split his face.
"One after another."
Bant walked slowly past Steve.
Then he said quietly:
"If it were my cousin, he'd tell you spiders aren't bugs."
"You are bug!"
Hulk only dealt in absolutes.
"Hacker, you can't beat him..."
Steve struggled to prop up his upper body. He grabbed Bant's ankle, desperate to stop him, to keep him from throwing his life away.
In his mind, Bant was, at best, roughly on par with Peter. Facing this monster was no different from suicide.
"Cap,"
Bant crouched down, looking Steve in the eye. "Why aren't you summoning Mjolnir to fight?"
Hulk was strong, but the power of Thor could match him blow for blow.
When Bant first saw Hulk appear, he was surprised, yes, but not overly worried. Precisely because Cap had his own ace in the hole.
Yet the fight had reached such a brutal, desperate state, and Steve was still clinging to that damn shield of his. That forced Bant to step in personally.
At those words, Steve's face filled with shame.
"I can't..."
"I'm not worthy..."
Truth was, he had discovered this back when he was escaping the S.H.I.E.L.D. base.
Surrounded on all sides, he had tried to summon Mjolnir, but nothing happened.
Steve knew why. It was because of his selfishness in protecting Bucky, his choice to hide the truth from Stark. Mjolnir no longer found him worthy.
He felt pathetic.
Now, he had lost the hammer's recognition. He had lost people's trust.
He was no longer Captain America. He was a fugitive.
Not a good soldier. Hardly a good man either...
Seeing Cap's dejected expression, Bant let his hands fall open. The chains on his arms clinked down. He said:
"Cap, you know, I'm not really a fan of yours. But Peter has always looked up to you. Right now, he's out there doing what he can, and you're standing here spouting this defeatist crap. Honestly, it's pissing me off a little."
"Now, I'll handle this big guy. Don't you forget your own mission."
With that, Bant ignored him.
"Wait..."
Steve tried to stop him.
Compared to Hulk, Bant was so small. His arm probably wasn't even as thick as Hulk's little brother's!
"You can't beat him. Let me..."
"Since when did you get the idea I can't beat him?"
Bant turned his head. Blue arcs of electricity crackled like serpents of lightning across his black suit!
In an instant, immense power erupted from Bant's body. A hurricane of force swirled outward from him as the epicenter.
For a split second, Steve thought Bant had summoned Mjolnir.
Could it be...?
"Can you win?"
"I'll win!" Bant stepped up in front of Hulk.
"Hulk, you're the challenger!"
The line might have been a little ominous, but Bant had absolute confidence in victory.
The Hulk's strength grew with his rage. Theoretically, there was no limit to that growth.
But rage itself had limits.
Once anger reached a certain point, it hit a threshold. Without some special catalyst, the fury couldn't easily escalate further.
Of course, if that threshold was crossed, Hulk would evolve into something even stronger!
But that didn't matter.
X-Superman would take care of everything.
"Hacker Spider-Man, you don't actually think you can beat the Hulk, do you?"
Far away.
Watching the feed, Pierce let out a scoff.
Even Connors, a fellow monster in dinosaur form, had been utterly crushed. Let alone some puny Spider-Man?
So far, Hacker's only notable victory was taking down the Green Goblin.
Watching Bant walk up to Hulk, Pierce wished he could get right in his face and mock his ignorant bravery.
Hulk, fueled by rage and towering over three meters tall, loomed before Bant like a small mountain.
Pierce couldn't wait to see this fool torn apart by the Hulk.
But Bant simply reached out and pressed his palm against Hulk's abdomen.
The next instant...
A blinding flash of lightning!
Bant unleashed every ounce of Primordial Force within him!
This ability to draw upon cosmic energy allowed Bant to release devastating power in a single moment.
For him now, though, this strike was a flash in the pan. A fleeting firework.
Brief, but powerful enough!
BOOM!!
Like a cannonball!
The released Primordial Force transformed into boundless lightning, blasting Hulk several kilometers away!
Beneath Bant's feet, the massive recoil reduced the ground he stood on to powder.
Pierce was stunned.
Everyone was stunned!
Who could have imagined that the seemingly scrawny Bant could send Hulk flying with a single blow?
But in truth, it was an inevitable outcome.
Kaela, who wielded Primordial Force, could already go toe to toe with Hulk.
While Bant's own Primordial Force wasn't on Kaela's level, Hulk had dismissed Bant's strength from the start due to the size difference. He had never once taken the "little bug" seriously.
As a result, when Bant struck him with Primordial Force, Hulk made almost no effort to resist with his own power.
And so, he was sent flying clear out of New York City by Bant's attack, crashing down in the empty suburbs like a meteorite.
Bant kicked off the ground and shot after him.
In human form, he couldn't sustain the use of Primordial Force. Wielding this cosmic energy, while not restricted by species, depended heavily on talent and time.
The Phantoms of Sakaar were a race naturally attuned to it. Bant's own training, however, progressed much slower.
That one strike, one could say, was Hacker Spider-Man's full arsenal.
As for what came next...
"It's Four Arms time!"
Out in the suburbs, Bant plummeted from the sky. As he fell, a green light flashed from his wrist!
His form expanded midair, his skin shifting to a deep crimson. Four yellow eyes gleamed like a demon's.
A second pair of arms sprouted from his ribs.
Four Arms!
A superhero landing.
THUD!!!
"Hero has arrived!"
Transformed into Four Arms, Bant's battle lust surged.
All four of his eyes locked onto Hulk as he extended a hand in a taunting gesture.
"Sent flying by a little bug's slap. Is that all you've got?"
Hulk hauled himself up from the massive crater. Bant's strike had launched him several kilometers, but in truth, he had taken almost no damage.
But he was furious!
"Hulk is angry!"
His fists clenched, veins bulging as if about to burst!
His eyes blazed with fury, fixed on Bant. He gnashed his teeth and roared, "Hulk will smash you first! Then Hulk will crush that other little bug!"
With that, he lunged at Bant like a wild beast!
Seeing this, Bant felt the blood in his own veins begin to boil.
It reminded him of his fight with Luma back on Sakaar.
That was the only time Four Arms had truly enjoyed a satisfying brawl.
Now, Hulk was another mighty opponent!
He didn't dodge or retreat. He swung his fists to meet the charge head on. Their punches collided.
BOOM!!!
Like two meteorites crashing together!
The invisible shockwave became tangible. The sonic boom from the displaced air was even more powerful than the concussive blasts from the Iron Spider armor.
The ground beneath them instantly shattered.
The first exchange of fists was an undeniable victory for Bant!
Hulk was sent stumbling backward several steps. Before he could recover, Bant's other three arms were already swinging in rapid succession, raining down blows.
Fists came from all directions, overwhelming Hulk's vision.
The dimwitted brute didn't even have time to get angrier before taking several more slaps.
But as Bant's relentless assault continued, Hulk's rage kept building. His skin grew harder, his body temperature hotter!
By the end, Bant half-suspected the blood in Hulk's veins was literally boiling!
"ROAR!!!"
Hulk let out a terrifying bellow.
The roar transformed into visible sound waves, rippling outward toward Bant.
In response, Bant slammed his hands together, unleashing an even more powerful sonic boom back at Hulk!
BOOM!!!
The two sound waves collided, instantly pulverizing a nearby boulder.
"Hulk will tear you apart!"
Hulk's fury was nearing its breaking point. And Four Arms had been waiting for exactly that.
"Bring it on!"
The two monsters clashed again.
This time, Bant clearly felt Hulk's strength had become monstrously powerful.
It was like colliding with a mountain!
THUD!!!
THUD!!!
THUD!!!
The wind from their punches flattened countless trees. The terrifying shockwaves tore through rock and earth. Deafening roars echoed through every corner of New York, spreading unease and dread.
The tearing force of their punches spawned a massive cyclone that swept across the land!
Fine dust and debris swirled within the gale, forming a massive cocoon that enveloped the two combatants.
In this moment, their strength was evenly matched. In fact, Hulk's raw power had even begun to surpass Bant's!
Hulk's rage had peaked. Boundless fury made his body vent terrifying plumes of steam!
Such overwhelming power should have resulted in a one-sided beatdown!
And indeed, it was a one-sided beatdown.
Only, it was Hulk who was being pummeled.
Inside the pitch-black cyclone, Bant's fists rained down like a furious storm, hammering relentlessly into Hulk.
Every time Hulk tried to counter, his punches were intercepted before they could even reach Bant.
Perhaps in terms of sheer strength at this moment, Hulk was indeed stronger.
But Four Arms didn't rely on brute force alone.
Judo, martial arts, war dances... Four Arms had mastered every fighting style in existence. He was a natural born grandmaster of combat.
He lived for battle!
And therefore...
He had also mastered Primordial Force.
Within the cyclone, the crimson lightning of Sakaar roared and raged!
/-\
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