"No way!! I've never even seen Homelander tear a single corner of his suit!"
Tony gasped inside the helmet, panic flooding his voice. His chest rose and fell violently as his heart rate spiked past 200.
"Sir! Abnormal neural interference detected!" JARVIS warned in his ear.
"Attempting emergency severance!"
"Whsh—!"
A stun arrow sliced through the air.
The arrow struck a puddle at Wanda's feet with pinpoint accuracy.
"ZZZRT—!!"
High-voltage electricity surged through the water.
"Ahh!"
Wanda screamed as the red magic around her shattered and dissipated.
Tony snapped back to reality, cold sweat soaking the inside of his armor.
"Thanks… Clint…"
"Don't mention it." Barton nodded with a small smile.
"I've got experience. That trick works wonders against mind control."
Wanda clutched her numbed leg, glaring furiously at Barton.
At that moment—
The wall exploded inward.
A massive green figure crashed into the hall.
"HULK! SMASH!!"
Wanda stared at the raging behemoth, a vicious glint flashing through her eyes.
If she couldn't control Stark—
She'd control this monster.
Grinding through the pain, she gathered scarlet energy again and thrust it toward the back of Hulk's head.
The red mist seeped straight into his mind.
Hulk froze.
The rage in his green eyes twisted—blood-red veins crawling across his pupils.
"HRRRGH—!!"
The roar that followed was no longer fury.
It was pure, animalistic slaughter.
"Hey, big guy… sun's going down—"
Tony stepped forward, trying to reach Banner.
Hulk answered by swinging a massive hand.
WHAM!
Tony was sent flying.
"HRRRGH!!"
Hulk roared in triumph, then began attacking everything—Iron Legion drones and Hydra soldiers alike.
And as Iron Man crashed to the ground, Wanda seized her opening.
Scarlet energy wrapped around Tony's entire suit.
Warning alarms screamed.
Tony felt like an invisible hand had grabbed him and slammed him against the wall.
He struggled to look up—
And saw her.
Red leather suit.
Hands wreathed in eerie crimson light.
"Stark."
Wanda's voice was ice-cold.
She brought her hands together.
The air itself compressed around Tony's armor.
KRRK—KRRK—
Titanium alloy began to warp.
"Who the hell is this girl?!" Tony yelled.
"She's trying to crush me like a soda can?!"
"Natasha! Clint! I need backup!"
"I'm being mentally and physically bullied!"
Then—
A streak of silver cut across the battlefield.
"WANDA! STOP!!"
Pietro burst in, positioning himself between Tony and Wanda.
"Pietro?" Wanda froze. The energy in her hands wavered.
"Get out of the way!" she shouted.
"He's Stark! He killed our parents!"
"No—listen to me!"
Pietro grabbed her wrists, shouting desperately.
"That's not true! Or—at least—it's a mistake! He already apologized!"
"Apologized?!" Wanda screamed.
"Can an apology bring Mom and Dad back?!"
"But he saved me!" Pietro shot back.
"And he's saved countless others!"
He pointed at Tony.
"He's been fighting every day, trying to save more people!"
"Wanda—look at me."
Pietro cupped his sister's face.
"We can't live inside hatred. The Baron has been using that hatred to control us!"
"Come with me… see the world outside."
"And if—after that—you still want to kill him…"
Pietro glanced at Tony, still pinned to the wall.
"…I'll hand you the knife myself. But not today!"
Wanda stared at her brother.
The crimson glow in her eyes flickered—rage and reason locked in a brutal struggle.
Then—
Hulk, apparently finding the space too cramped for his destruction, suddenly turned.
He smashed through the castle's outer wall and leapt down the mountainside.
Below—
Sokovia's city center.
Tens of thousands of civilians.
"No! Damn it!!"
Tony felt his heart seize.
"He's heading into the city!"
"Oh no—!"
Wanda gasped, panic flooding her face as she dropped the scarlet energy.
Tony didn't even respond to Pietro.
He rocketed through the breach.
If Hulk reached the city, it would be a massacre.
The Avengers would become the world's villains.
"JARVIS! Initiate Veronica!"
"Deploy all components—now!"
"Yes, sir. Veronica System deploying from orbit."
High above the atmosphere—
A massive satellite disintegrated.
Dozens of gigantic components wrapped in flames plunged toward Sokovia like meteors.
Tony dove at full speed, chasing the rampaging green figure.
"Hang on, Banner…"
"Don't do this…"
His teeth clenched, eyes burning with urgency.
Inside the shattered castle—
Wanda stared toward the distant city, her face drained of color.
"I messed up, Pietro…"
Pietro clenched his fists.
"Wanda—you leave first."
"What are you going to do?" she asked, frightened.
"I can't pretend I didn't see this," he said quietly.
"I'm one of the Seven. I'm a hero."
A silver flash—
And Pietro vanished.
Wanda stood frozen, staring at where he'd been.
Her brother—born twelve minutes before her.
A reckless kid who always caused trouble and left her to clean it up.
Now—
He'd charged straight toward the greatest danger.
For people he didn't even know.
"Pietro…"
She felt it.
He was shining.
Is this… what a hero is?
She remembered the place Pietro had talked about.
What kind of world could turn a street punk into someone like this?
For the first time, Wanda felt curiosity—
And longing—for that unknown place.
…
Sokovia – Central Market Square.
A deafening crash shattered an otherwise peaceful day.
Hulk fell from the sky like a green meteor, slamming into the square and flipping over a dozen cars.
People screamed, scattering in every direction.
"ROAR—!!"
Hulk ripped a police car from the ground, winding up to hurl it into the crowd.
"Don't do this, big guy!!"
Iron Man arrived in a sonic boom.
He slammed into Hulk with everything he had, forcing him away from the civilians.
"Listen to me! Don't let that witch mess with your head!"
"You're stronger than this! You're Bruce Banner!!"
"HRAAAGH!!"
Hulk didn't hear a word.
He grabbed Tony by the leg and smashed him into the pavement.
"Okay," Tony groaned, staring at the sky as massive objects descended.
"Therapy failed."
"Time for physical treatment."
KRAK-KRAK-KRAK—!!
Gigantic armor modules crashed down with pinpoint precision, locking onto Tony's suit.
Chest plate.
Arm braces.
Leg armor.
Two seconds later—
A steel colossus taller than Hulk stood in the street.
Mark 44 — Hulkbuster Armor.
Tony's voice boomed through external speakers, low and thunderous.
"Alright."
"Everyone back up."
"We're starting urban renewal."
"Demolition costs go on Stark Industries."
Hulk stared at the iron giant, red fury blazing brighter in his eyes.
Two titans—
Collided in the heart of the city.
BOOOOM—!!!
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T/N:
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