"Go back to New York with me?"
Jason frowned, asking in confusion, "Since you don't agree with what I do, why do you want to come with me?"
Banner's gaze drifted to the side. He said seriously, "Because I have to go back."
Jason followed his line of sight and saw a newspaper clipping on the table. It had a photo of a woman.
"Heh. So the hero can't get past the girl." Jason chuckled softly.
Banner gave a forced smile and didn't deny it.
"Pack your things. I can give you a lift, get you to her before sunrise tomorrow."
Banner shook his head, slung the backpack from beside his bed, and collected the newspaper clipping. "Already packed. I was planning to leave this morning."
"Good. Let's go then."
After settling the dog he'd had for half a year, he gently closed the door, and the two walked slowly out of the favela.
When they got downstairs, Banner looked up, gazing reluctantly at the familiar buildings. If it hadn't been for Mr. Blue, who had given him a sliver of hope, he had planned to live here in seclusion for the rest of his life.
Jason suddenly stopped walking. "Dr. Banner, you seem quite popular here. Leaving in the middle of the night, and you still have a sending-off party."
"Sending-off party?"
Banner turned around, confused. In the near distance, five tattered-looking thugs were walking toward them.
Banner shook his head, exasperated. "Oh, shit."
"What's wrong? Not friends?"
"They're the local bullies from the factory. We had some trouble before. They probably heard I was leaving and want to teach me a final lesson."
"I see." Jason smiled and started walking toward them.
"Hey! Jason! Don't kill them," Banner quickly warned, afraid Jason would go on a rampage.
"Relax, I've got this."
Seeing Jason step forward menacingly, the thugs scowled, pointing at his nose and spouting a foreign language he couldn't understand. Though Jason couldn't understand, he guessed the gist was: Get lost. You want to be a hero? Watch out, or I'll kill you.
Looking at the arrogant thugs, Jason suddenly found it hilarious.
These idiots. First, they pick a fight with the Hulk, one of the most powerful beings in Marvel. Now, they're pointing fingers and talking trash to the world's number one terrorist. These guys really didn't know.
Jason's eyes filled with pity. Seeing this, the thugs got even angrier. A foreigner, daring to act tough on our turf? Beat him to death!
One thug circled behind Jason, shoving hard to push him to the ground. But when his hands were still a few centimeters away, he hit what felt like an iron wall. No matter how hard he pushed, he couldn't move it an inch. Suddenly, an immense force threw him back several meters. He landed with a thud, sitting on the ground, stunned.
The thugs looked at each other, completely dumbfounded. They'd never seen anything so weird in their lives—he tried to push, but got thrown back instead. Who was this guy?
Jason waved his hand dismissively, his expression flat, like he was shooing flies. "I'm in a good mood today. Fuck off."
As if granted amnesty, the five of them bolted and ran.
Banner walked up, watching them flee. He smiled, "I really didn't expect you to actually let them go."
Jason kept walking, snorting at his words. "If you hadn't spoken up for them, they'd be a pile of ground meat right now just for talking to me like that."
Hearing this, Banner's smile froze.
Heh. How stupid of me. His hands are already stained with blood, yet just because he let those thugs go, I had the ridiculous thought that maybe he wasn't so bad.
Banner followed, watching Jason's back. He abandoned all illusions and strengthened his previous decision.
.........
Jason was a true conversation killer. The two walked in silence all the way to the outskirts of the city.
Banner looked at the dark, desolate surroundings and asked, "How are we getting back to New York? By plane?"
Jason pointed to the sky. "Flying."
"What?" Banner was completely confused.
Jason raised his hand and activated his power. A ball of pale blue energy materialized.
Banner stared at the energy sphere, his eyes wide with shock. "This is your superpower? It's incredible."
Jason said flatly, "The Hulk inside you isn't bad either. It's just a shame you haven't learned to use him."
This touched on another of Banner's blind spots. In his eyes, the Hulk is a bad, terrifying presence. Its existence only brought endless slaughter and grief, which was why he wanted to destroy it.
"Use him? How?"
Jason didn't want to elaborate. "We'll talk later."
With that, he controlled the energy sphere, enveloping Banner in a translucent, pale blue energy shield. With a thought, the bottom of the shield morphed.
"Oh my god!"
Banner cried out as the shield lifted him, and he slowly floated into the air.
Jason rose to meet him and said, "Let's go."
"Wait! Wait a minute!"
Banner's heart-rate monitor was already at 180 and beeping. Once it broke 200, Hulk would come out.
After Banner used his breathing exercises to get his heart rate under control, Jason reassured him, "Don't worry, I'll control the speed."
With that, he brought Banner slowly up to an altitude of several thousand meters.
It was Banner's first time having such an experience, watching the houses below shrink until they vanished into the darkness.
Considering Banner's heart, Jason didn't fly fast. Instead, he flew slowly toward New York, as if taking a leisurely stroll.
......
After an hour, Banner had gradually adapted to the feeling of flying. He plucked up his courage and said to Jason, "Jason, I'm good. You can speed up!"
Jason didn't respond. His face was cold, his thoughts elsewhere.
A moment later, Banner called his name again.
This time, Jason finally turned to look at him, smiling.
"Banner, you know what? Just now, on our way, a wonderful idea popped into my head."
Banner's heart quickened. He had a feeling Jason's smile was dangerous. "What idea?"
"Can you tell me, why did you really want to come back to New York with me?"
"It... it's because of Betty!"
"No. I don't think so." Jason's smile grew wider, and increasingly sinister.
"My gut tells me you wanted to follow me back to the Joker hideout, and then, you'd release the Hulk. Use poison to fight poison, destroy us both. Am I right?"
Boom.
Banner's mind reeled, and his face went white. He might be a scientist with seven PhDs, but his knowledge of body language was practically zero. Joy, anger, sadness... Banner always wore his heart on his sleeve. And Jason, who had spent half his life as a gangster, saw right through him.
"You just said you were good to go. So let's try something a little more exciting."
Crack!
The energy shield surrounding Banner suddenly fractured, then shattered like glass, vanishing into the air.
"Oh, shit!"
Without the shield, Banner plummeted toward the ground. The wind roared in his ears, forcing his eyes shut. The terror of the sudden freefall made his heart rate skyrocket.
Jason hovered in the air, coldly watching Banner hurtle toward the earth. His voice was filled with excitement.
"Hulk! Come on out!"
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You can read advance chapters and view R-18 images of the characters on pat reon page.
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