"Wait, that big guy used to be human?"
Tony, who had already crossed paths with Hulk once before, watched with his own eyes as the giant turned into a refined, mild-looking middle-aged man. Behind his visor, his eyes nearly bulged out of his head. "Dr. Banner?"
As a world-renowned physicist, Bruce Banner was one of the few scientists Tony actually respected, so of course he recognized him.
Tony had no idea why Bruce had reverted to his original form, but Abomination, whose head was full of revenge, did not care about any of that. He bounded in front of Bruce in two steps, clenched his fist, and smashed it down toward Bruce's head.
"Not good!"
Tony's expression changed sharply in the distance. The thrusters in the legs of his suit fired at full power, launching him toward Bruce at high speed as he tried to rescue him before Abomination could strike.
But in that split second, Iron Man was still one step too slow.
When he was still dozens of meters away from Bruce, Bruce lifted his head and watched Abomination's fist come crashing down right above him.
"Hulk, you screwed me!"
Bruce wanted to dodge, but at that moment, his body had become strangely heavy. His legs felt as if they had been filled with lead, and his entire body refused to obey him. He could not move an inch.
"Betty..."
Bruce's thoughts scattered wildly before finally stopping on that familiar face.
Bang!
Flesh collided with flesh, producing a thunderous boom.
The immense force stirred up a tremendous blast of wind. Everything in the messy surroundings was swept into the air by the gale, then fell back to the ground with a clattering rattle, leaving the area in chaos.
"Hi, Dr. Banner."
Bruce held his head in both hands and curled up as tightly as he could. Just as he thought he was really about to be smashed into pulp, he suddenly heard a somewhat familiar voice from in front of him. "Long time no see."
"Hm?"
I'm still alive under Abomination's fist?
Bruce blinked, then looked up and saw a bright, sunny face smiling at him.
"Fenris?"
Bruce's jaw nearly dropped.
Abomination's thick, bone-spiked arm had come crashing down, and each of his fists was bigger than half of Fenris's body.
Yet that fist, thrown with all of Abomination's strength, had been stopped easily by Fenris with one raised hand.
The enormous difference in size created an unprecedented visual impact. Bruce's sharp mind stalled for an instant, almost failing to process what he was seeing.
"Smash!"
Abomination pressed his fist downward with force, only to find that the handsome young man who had appeared out of nowhere seemed like an immovable mountain. No matter how much strength he used, he could not budge him in the slightest.
Ever since injecting himself with Hulk's blood, Abomination had charged through everything in his path without anyone being able to stop him. This was the first time he had encountered something like this.
Humiliated and enraged, he raised both fists high again, bringing them down with a violent gust of wind.
But if he was fast, Fenris was faster.
In Fenris's eyes, every movement of Abomination's swollen, bulky body looked like slow motion. Before Abomination could strike, a foot had already arrived first, silently planting itself against his stomach.
Bang!
A tremendous force erupted in an instant. Before the several-ton Abomination could even scream, his massive body was sent flying cleanly away.
A series of crashes rang out one after another. No one knew how many walls he smashed through before he finally came to a stop.
"Weaker than Hulk."
Fenris withdrew his long leg in disdain. When he turned back, the expression on his face changed, and he gave Bruce, whom he had not seen in a long time, a brilliant smile.
Handsome and bright. Yet in Bruce's eyes, that image could not be connected at all with the ruthless person who had just handled Abomination so easily.
"Fenris, you..."
"You were hit by a rocket... You're really still alive?"
Bruce stammered out the words.
But the moment he said it, he realized he had probably asked an extremely stupid question.
A monster who could casually deal with the powerful Abomination would not be afraid of some rocket.
"I saw someone on the news who looked a lot like you before, so I guessed you might still be alive. I didn't expect it to really be you."
With the danger gone, Bruce finally relaxed.
He looked Fenris up and down. After not seeing him for a while, he felt that the young man who had once selflessly helped him in a desperate situation had an especially pleasant aura around him, one that made Bruce instinctively want to move closer.
"Actually, that day, I went to deal with a group of pursuers lying in ambush farther away. By the time I came back, you were gone."
Fenris shook his head, seeming somewhat regretful. "And we did meet again later."
"We did?"
"That day on the shore. Hulk provoked me, then I beat him until he ran into the sea."
"No wonder. When I woke up that time, I found myself in the deep sea surrounded by sharks."
Once Fenris said that, realization dawned on Bruce. "So that's why Hulk refused to come out just now. You were here, and he got scared?"
"It's just a shame. I never got to use the money you gave me back then."
"If it wasn't enough, I can give you more now. As much as you want."
"Sure. Haha."
With Bruce, a friend Fenris had made when he was still weak, the atmosphere between them remained fairly relaxed. Talking about many of those old things now even brought back a faint sense of nostalgia.
"You two know each other?"
With the crisp clang of metal hitting the ground, Tony deliberately landed beside them in a flashy pose.
His visor opened, and he looked between Fenris and Bruce with great interest. No matter how he thought about it, he could not imagine the two of them having any kind of connection.
"Tony."
Bruce greeted him with a smile. The two of them had known each other before as well. "Nice suit."
In the distance, Spider-Man glanced at the three of them from afar. Just as he was about to come closer, Fenris suddenly turned his gaze toward him.
Fenris pointed at the several armed helicopters circling in the air, then waved at Peter, signaling for him to leave quickly.
"Okay."
Peter nodded, understanding what Fenris meant.
He was still far too weak right now, and he already had plenty of trouble on his hands. If even more people started watching him, his life would only get harder.
"You know that kid?"
Tony glanced at Spider-Man's departing back and asked Fenris.
"He helped me once, more or less."
Fenris shrugged, neither confirming nor denying anything. "He's a good kid. Kindhearted. Take care of him when you have time."
"I know."
Peter's identity naturally could not be hidden from Tony, and Tony had already had that idea in mind anyway.
Inside the helicopter, General Ross watched everything below through the instruments. Seeing this strange man who had appeared out of nowhere beat Abomination until he could not get back up in just a few moves, Ross's brows furrowed deeply. He rubbed his chin, lost in thought.
"What's there to be afraid of? As long as he's human, he's easier to handle than a monster."
"Bring Abomination back to me."
A moment later, he gave the order.
"Yes, sir!"
Below, after chatting for a while, Fenris strolled over to a collapsed ruin.
"Perfect. My building still needs a doorman."
"You'll do."
Abomination was currently buried under a pile of rubble. Fenris casually grabbed one of his arms and dragged him out.
Click!
Just as Fenris turned around and prepared to leave with Tony and Bruce, countless crisp sounds of weapons being cocked rang out not far from the three of them.
"Gentlemen, that big guy belongs to the military. You have no right to take him."
(End of Chapter)
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