If you were to ask anyone on Earth who the most powerful hero in the world was, you would inevitably get one of two answers: Thor or the Hulk.
Historically, these two titans had rarely engaged in a true, no-holds-barred deathmatch, leaving the ultimate answer up for debate. But today, Knull, the King in Black, had graciously decided to help humanity settle the argument once and for all. Corrupted by the pitch-black living abyss, the symbiote-Hulk launched a relentless, earth-shattering assault on the God of Thunder.
Seeing the monstrous, black-and-gray Hulk roaring as he charged through the ruined streets of Manhattan, Thor swung Mjolnir with devastating force, smashing the beast backward through a concrete wall.
"I know this is not your will, Hulk!" Thor bellowed, panting heavily as he watched the monster instantly rise from the rubble. "You are a hero! A proud, mighty warrior! You are not a mindless puppet for some dark god!"
The symbiote-Hulk remained entirely silent. Its serpentine tongue slithered out over jagged fangs. Knull's alien biology perfectly maximized the destructive, primal rage already dwelling within the host, turning the Hulk into the ultimate engine of destruction.
Seeing the beast charge again, Thor tightened his grip on the leather-wrapped hilt of his hammer. He took a deep breath, preparing to launch the Hulk into the stratosphere.
However, the symbiote-Hulk adapted. The monster abruptly halted its charge just inches outside of Thor's striking range, causing Mjolnir to miss its mark and whistle harmlessly through the air. Before Thor could recover his balance, the Hulk's massive hand shot out, grabbing the Asgardian directly by his golden hair.
With a guttural roar, the Hulk slammed Thor face-first into the cratered asphalt. The impact shattered the street. The Hulk didn't let up, repeatedly smashing the Thunder God into the ground, burying Thor's silver helmet deep into the bedrock.
Releasing Thor's hair, the Hulk mounted the downed god and began delivering a brutal, rapid-fire barrage of meteorite-heavy punches. With every strike, the crater grew deeper.
Finally, battered and bleeding, Thor's eyes flared with blinding blue light.
"ENOUGH!"
Thor unleashed a massive, omnidirectional burst of raw lightning directly from his own body. The divine electricity blasted into the symbiote-Hulk. The alien sludge shrieked, emitting the sickening smell of burnt ozone and scorching flesh. The Hulk recoiled in agony, giving Thor the exact opening he needed. Thor delivered a devastating uppercut, sending the behemoth flying backward, before rising to his feet and raising his hammer to the stormy sky.
"Stand down, Hulk!" Thor commanded, his voice booming over the thunder. "If we continue this clash, there will be no city left to save!"
"I'm pretty sure he's not exactly in a listening mood right now, Thor."
Thor turned. Spider-Man dropped lightly onto a nearby streetlight, while Silk landed gracefully on the pavement below, carrying Kitty Pryde on her back.
"Ah, the Spider," Thor greeted, though his expression remained incredibly tense. "The All-Father has decreed that you are the key to Knull's defeat. Step back, my friend. This beast is beyond your physical limits."
Peter gave the towering, symbiote-covered Hulk a quick tactical assessment, then sighed helplessly. "I know, I know. I'm actually here to help you. We've figured out a way to pull Bruce out of that alien straightjacket, but we need some Asgardian muscle to pull it off."
"Speak, Spider," Thor said, never taking his eyes off the recovering Hulk. "What do you require of me?"
"I need your hammer," Peter explained, gesturing toward the teenager standing nervously beside Silk. "Or, more accurately, I need your hammer to give her a ride. Thor, meet Kitty Pryde. She's a mutant. She can phase herself and anything she touches straight through solid matter."
Thor's brilliant tactical mind grasped the strategy instantly. "You need this mortal maiden to reach inside the symbiote and pull the Hulk out. But she does not possess the physical strength to move him."
Thor hovered Mjolnir in the air between them and looked warmly at Kitty. "Step forward, little one. Take hold of the leather strap. Mjolnir will provide the momentum required to bring our friend back to the light."
Kitty swallowed hard. "Okay. Literally ten minutes ago, I was just a normal teenager trying not to get eaten, and now I'm holding a magic hammer to save the world." She took a deep breath, wrapping her small hand tightly around Mjolnir's strap, and looked up at the three heroes. "I'm ready."
Peter and Cindy's job was simple: restrain the Hulk and keep him perfectly still.
The two spiders launched themselves into the fray.
"I never thought I'd see Thor fighting bare-handed," Cindy admitted as she swung wide, firing a thick cable of webbing that adhered directly to the Hulk's left wrist.
"Who's gonna argue with him?" Peter yelled, landing on the opposite flank and firing his own heavy web-line to snare the Hulk's right arm. "Besides, he's the God of Thunder, not the God of Hammers!"
Peter and Cindy pulled back with all of their combined, enhanced arachnid strength, temporarily locking the Hulk's arms out to his sides in a rigid T-pose.
Thor didn't waste a second. He charged the restrained behemoth with his bare fists, delivering a flurry of devastating, earth-shattering blows to the Hulk's torso to keep the monster completely distracted.
But the Hulk's rage was infinite. With a terrifying roar, the beast flexed, his sheer brute force beginning to snap the thick strands of spider-silk. He reared his arm back, preparing to deliver a crushing backhand to the Thunder God.
Thor simply flashed a wicked, knowing smile. He extended his right hand into the empty air.
WHOOSH.
Called by its master, Mjolnir rocketed across the street at supersonic speed. Kitty Pryde held on for dear life, activating her mutant powers just as the hammer reached them.
Mjolnir—with Kitty in tow—phased flawlessly through Thor's torso and plunged directly into the chest of the symbiote-Hulk.
Deep within the pitch-black mass, Kitty grabbed hold of the true, physical Hulk. As Mjolnir breached the other side of the alien armor, the momentum of the hammer forcibly dragged Kitty and the enormous green giant right out of the symbiote shell.
Blinded by the sudden light and utterly disoriented, the true Hulk tumbled onto the pavement with a deafening crash. Kitty collapsed onto the asphalt beside him, gasping for air.
The empty symbiote shell stood frozen for a fraction of a second, attempting to collapse in on itself.
"Begone."
Thor summoned a blinding pillar of lightning directly from the heavens, striking the empty symbiote suit and instantly vaporizing the alien biomass into ash.
Thor chuckled, retrieving his helmet from the rubble and placing it back on his head. "Welcome back, my mighty friend!"
The Hulk pushed himself up to a seated position, rubbing his massive green head. He glared at Thor, entirely unimpressed by the rescue. "Hulk could have smashed ugly monster," the giant grumbled resentfully. "Blonde hair stole Hulk's kill."
"If you have a desire to smash monsters, my friend, believe me," Peter quipped, dropping down from a lamppost, "Knull has plenty more where that came from."
Peter looked at the rescued Avenger and let out a sigh of relief. The plan had worked flawlessly. With Kitty's phasing abilities, they now had a viable method to rescue Colonel Rhodes, Darkhawk, and the rest of the corrupted heroes. Furthermore, as a young mutant, Kitty would be safest under the protection of the X-Men, who were currently staging out of the Sanctum.
"Alright, team," Peter directed. "Let's get Kitty back to the Sanctum. Then we just wait for Mr. Stark to give us the green light to take down the dragon."
The quartet navigated the ruined streets, making their way back to Greenwich Village.
But as they turned the corner onto Bleecker Street, they froze.
"Whoa," Kitty breathed, staring wide-eyed at the building. "I'm guessing it's usually bigger on the inside?"
The entire Sanctum Sanctorum—the sole remaining safe haven in Manhattan—was no longer visible. The ancient brownstone had been completely swallowed. A massive, sprawling mountain of pitch-black, pulsating symbiote slime encased the entire structure, pulsing like a giant, menacing heart.