Earth.
Felicia, in her Black Cat suit, drove her sharp vibranium claws through a Chitauri soldier's chest. Then she leaped, landing lightly on her toes not far from Peter.
"Spider-Man, where's Hacker?"
Originally, Felicia hadn't planned to join this battle. She'd stayed in the Pleimos Building with Mary Jane and her family, but after watching the heroes' performances from every angle, she grew puzzled—why hadn't Bant shown his face yet? So, using a bathroom break as an excuse, she slipped out of Pleimos.
Peter threw a hard punch, and the symbiote on his arm burst outward like a spray of spikes, piercing through several Chitauri soldiers. After all, these were the aliens Peter himself had described as looking like Xenomorphs, so even he didn't hesitate to cut them down. Hearing Felicia's question, Peter quickly spun around, a confused look on his face.
"You are…?"
"Black Cat."
Felicia answered as she slit another enemy's throat. The brutal scene immediately made Peter break out in goosebumps. He truly had no idea where his cousin had found such a terrifying, violent girl. But he vividly remembered something Bant had told him once: Stay out of your cousin's business!
So Peter immediately replied, "No clue. He's probably still up in the satellite." Then he looked up, puzzled, and added, "But according to the original plan, the planetary shield was supposed to stay up the whole time. Just don't get why…"
Felicia also glanced toward the sky. By now, most of the Chitauri soldiers had already been beaten down under the combined assault. Falcon and the Green Goblin Harry were circling overhead, hunting down the remaining Chitauri.
At that moment, a figure black and glowing deep purple shot through a building like a cannonball and crashed down right next to them.
Then Stark cut into the comms.
"Hacker is way too unreliable!"
He jumped straight into complaining.
"Now that he's not here, who's supposed to subdue that big guy? And seriously, who called the green, lumpy monster over here?"
"Wasn't it you?" Peter shot back.
"I was trying to find the other one," Tony said stubbornly, completely refusing to admit how thrilled he'd been when he first heard the Hulk was coming.
T'Challa got up from the ground, clutching his head. "Ordinary weapons are useless against him." He'd tried scratching the Hulk with vibranium, but it had backfired. After all that effort to wound him, it only provoked his rage and made him even more uncontrollable.
Captain America was having a headache over it too. The last time they faced the Hulk, they'd been just as helpless.
"I think we might need bigger weapons."
"I had one," Tony said.
He thought of Veronica, now completely limbless and only useful as a kickball for the Hulk to play with.
Just then, Black Panther spoke. "Actually, I do still have one weapon. Barely qualifies as a weapon, I suppose."
He looked down at his suit, which was now glowing purple all over, and spoke with obvious unease.
Seeing this, Venom, who was bonded to Peter, was stunned. A head instantly sprouted from Peter's shoulder and shouted in shock, "With that?!"
He thought Black Panther was staring at his crotch.
"Don't tell me you're planning to shove your junk into the Hulk's mouth and rinse it for him. Oh my god, that's insane! You're even crazier than Wade! Are all you Earthlings like this?!"
That last part was Venom asking Peter.
Black Panther frowned in displeasure, but instead of getting angry, he seemed more concerned for Peter. "Spider-Man, what is that thing on your back? Some kind of space parasite?"
"You're the parasite!" Venom shot back immediately.
Peter quickly clamped a hand over his mouth and apologized. "It's nothing, don't mind him." Then he looked T'Challa up and down and asked, "But I was actually wondering, where's your weapon, anyway?"
"It's my suit," T'Challa said. "Vibranium can absorb enormous kinetic energy, but the energy it takes in isn't infinite. Once it hits a critical point, it turns into this." He gestured with his claws at himself; the original Black Panther suit was now covered in glowing purple fissures.
"And then?"
"Then it collapses, releasing all the absorbed energy in one burst!" T'Challa explained.
"How big a blast?" Stark was already calculating.
"I'm not sure either. But before this, I took countless direct hits from the War Lord, as well as the energy discharged from his axe multiple times. And one freefall impact from outside the universe…"
"Alright, stop right there!" Tony cut him off. "Think of something else. The energy from that freefall alone would be enough to wipe out New York City."
Hearing that, both Peter and Felicia immediately fled from T'Challa as if he were a ticking time bomb, terrified they'd get caught in the blast.
T'Challa could only sigh helplessly.
Fortunately, at that moment, Loki—having finished off Ebony Maw—turned into a streak of lightning and flew over from several blocks away.
"Fear not, Midgardians! Don't forget your savior!"
Loki descended like a god. He had already stowed away the Casket of Ancient Winters and the Tesseract. Now, with Mjolnir in one hand and the barely-alive Ebony Maw dangling from the other, he shot straight toward the direction of Hulk's rampage. After learning from Odin that Thor wouldn't die, Loki's rage had subsided. He'd reverted to his usual self, and right now he was frantically showing off his Thor power like the lead dancer at a grand ball. Mjolnir spun round and round in his hand, whirling through the air like a propeller.
"What the hell are you doing?" Tony asked, exasperated.
"Apologies, I'm still getting accustomed to the hammer's power," Loki said, unbearably smug. Then he flew up to Steve and said, "Hello there, soldier. Like my new outfit?"
He flipped the hammer, offering the handle toward Steve, and said with fake sincerity, "Sorry to steal your thunder. But actually, you could take the hammer and fight too."
His eyes kept hinting for Cap to pick up Mjolnir and give Hulk a good thrashing. Yet his expression practically screamed: Why don't you lift it? Don't you like it?
Steve shot him an annoyed glare. "Alright, you know I can't lift the hammer right now. You're the only one worthy. Just go!"
Hearing that, Loki felt utterly content. If only those words had come from Thor, it would've been even sweeter.
"Then I shall not decline!"
With that, Loki tossed Ebony Maw right in front of Steve and charged toward the Hulk. Watching his departing figure, Cap sighed helplessly.
"Thousands of years old, and he acts like a child."
"That's the uniquely Asgardian condition of arrested mental development," Tony said.
Meanwhile.
The Hulk was still on a rampage. Thankfully, everyone in Manhattan had already been evacuated. No matter how much he destroyed, it was all on Stark's tab.
The Hulk smashed things wildly. Loki hovered to a stop directly in front of him, instantly drawing his attention. To Loki, this Hulk was nothing more than a recolored Black Dwarf—nothing to worry about—so he didn't consider him much of a threat. Not only did he let his guard down, but he arrogantly bellowed at the Hulk.
"Calm yourself, big guy."
"You don't want to anger a god. Especially not me, the God of Thunder—Loki!"
Loki raised his arms high, basking in the lightning. And surprisingly, after he appeared, the Hulk actually stopped what he was doing. He tilted his head and stared blankly at Loki.
Hulk: watching an idiot.jpg
This only made Loki more smug. He turned around without a shred of caution and proudly called out to Cap and the others.
"See? I don't even need to lift a finger to make him subm—AHH!!!"
Before he could finish, a massive force yanked him backward. The Hulk had angrily grabbed Loki's cape, and like slamming a ragdoll, he repeatedly smashed Loki back and forth into the ground. A moment later, he simply tossed him aside like trash.
"Puny god!"
The sight made Steve cover his eyes, shaking his head and sighing over and over. A classic rerun. This Loki just never learned.
Lying in a crater, Loki felt as though all hope had drained from his life. Why did it turn out like this…? For the first time, I lifted Mjolnir… obtained the power to become king… Two joyous things overlapping should have brought me even greater happiness… but why… why did it turn out like this…?
Right then, the emo Loki had fully transformed into a tragic meme philosopher. He had no idea what sort of divine being this Hulk was. He'd become this powerful, and yet still couldn't match him?
"I mean… didn't you just get too carried away?"
A symbiote's voice sounded in Loki's ear. The green symbiote that had once helped him escape Supergiant had awakened, roused by the Thor power.
"It's you? You're still here?" Loki asked.
The symbiote didn't miss a beat and immediately mocked, "Didn't expect you'd get this powerful. But why are you lying on the ground? No sleeping here, you know."
"Shut it!"
Loki climbed up from the ground and asked, "He seems to be controlled by the Mind Stone too. You can calm him down, right?"
The symbiote replied, "You have to calm him down physically first, then I can do my part."
"That's easy."
Loki indicated there was one move Thor had been using on him for a thousand years. Then he hurled Mjolnir straight at the Hulk.
Clang!
The hammer struck the Hulk square in the chest, pinning him firmly to the ground, unable to move.
Immediately, the green symbiote spread its slime like a predator and surged toward the Hulk.
/-\
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