Chapter 143: The Flung Hulk
"I think they're at a stalemate," Steve said.
"Like a married couple who just had a fight and don't want to divorce yet?" Tony extended his right hand, and energy slowly gathered in his palm.
Bang!
A repulsor blast shot out. The Hulk and Aleksei simultaneously relaxed their tension and stepped backward, successfully separating the two. In truth, Tony's repulsor blast couldn't injure either of them; it merely served as a convenient excuse for them to disengage.
"My horn!" Aleksei felt his horn was close to being broken. Luckily, that 'iron lump' intervened.
"Hmph!" The Hulk shook his head defiantly, touching the blood on his chest. He was determined to tear off the Rhino's skin today!
Aleksei picked up a large, cultivated tree nearby and threw it at the Hulk. The Hulk spread his arms, caught the incoming tree above his head, gripped the trunk tightly, and then violently swung it at Aleksei.
Smash! Snap!
The immense force sent Aleksei flying to the side, and the tree trunk instantly cracked.
The Hulk casually tossed the large tree aside, then leaped high into the air, landing on Aleksei. Without a word, he raised his fists and began punching rapidly. Aleksei immediately and instinctively tried to shield his head with his hands, but Steve instantly threw his shield, striking Aleksei's hand.
"You're ganging up on me! That's not fair!" Aleksei roared in frustration.
"Hulk doesn't need help!" The Hulk was even more displeased. Who said three of them were fighting one of you? With that, the Hulk grabbed the returning shield and threw it back. "I don't need help!"
Thwack! The massive impact of the shield sent Steve stumbling backward. Fortunately, Tony reacted quickly and caught him.
"Watch out, old timer, don't get smashed," Tony said, steadying Steve. When the Hulk loses his temper, he'll hit his teammates just the same.
"I like you, big guy!" Aleksei finally freed his hand and grabbed the Hulk's incoming fist. "Rhino likes you, Hulk~"
"Hulk doesn't like Rhino!" The Hulk broke free of Aleksei's grip and continued to strike with his fists. Aleksei bent his legs, braced himself against the Hulk's abdomen, and mustered all his strength to kick the Hulk away. Bang! The Hulk was sent flying into the school building.
"I am the strongest!" Aleksei yelled, pounding his chest. He had beaten the Hulk.
"Stark, prepare yourself!" Steve picked up his shield. Since even the Hulk had been defeated, this was going to be a tough fight.
Jarvis, inside Tony's armor, was continuously scanning the school building, discovering that at least a hundred students were trapped inside, afraid to come out. If they went downstairs, they would run into the Rhino Man, so they were all carefully staying on the upper floors.
"I need a plan, Jarvis." Tony had to rescue the children, but the Rhino Man in front of him was constantly blocking the way.
Steve saw Tony's thinking. "Stark, leave the Rhino Man to me, and the children to you."
"Suits me, Cap." Tony activated the thrusters on his armor and flew towards the upper floors of the teaching building. Most students were clustered on the balconies, and the rest were on the higher floors; no one dared to hide lower down. After all, the lower they were, the closer they were to the Rhino Man. If the Rhino Man charged upstairs, the people on the ground floor would be the first victims.
Aleksei looked up at Stark flying toward the building and was about to move when a shield slammed into his face.
"Your opponent is me now," Steve said, catching the returning shield.
Aleksei pointed a finger at the shield in Steve's hand. "How do you make it fly back?"
"You're not the first person to ask that," Steve shrugged.
"It doesn't matter if you don't answer. Once I smash you into a meat patty, I can try your shield myself," Aleksei thought the small object was quite interesting.
"Sorry, not for sale." Steve flung the shield, and at the same time, he began to run. Aleksei casually extended a hand and caught the shield. He rubbed the shield and said, "Doesn't feel very useful."
"Give it back." Steve used the shield to divert Aleksei's attention while he had already arrived next to Aleksei and leaped up. Steve quickly bent his right leg, and his hardened knee slammed into Aleksei's chin. Thud! The impact snapped Aleksei's head upward, and the shield in his hand dropped. Steve quickly turned and caught the shield. He swung back, hitting Aleksei's head with the shield, while simultaneously raising both legs to clamp around Aleksei's neck, trying to take him down.
However, Steve clearly forgot the difference in size and strength. Aleksei stood his ground firmly. He reached out with his massive, paddle-sized hand and swatted Steve away as if he were batting a mosquito.
Boom! Steve was slammed away into a patch of grass, rolling several times until he hit a large tree, which finally halted his tumble.
"Hah... whew~" Steve panted. "I seriously feel like I'm in a zoo, wrestling with a rhinoceros."
On the School Building
"Don't worry, kids, I'll get you down," Tony said, trying to reassure the students huddled near the windows.
"Iron Man!" the students exclaimed excitedly.
"That's right, so you don't need to be afraid. Although there's an enraged rhino downstairs, we still have an experienced zookeeper." Tony pointed at Steve, who was fighting the Rhino Man below. However, the moment he finished speaking, his so-called zookeeper was viciously knocked aside by the Rhino Man.
"..." The students stared at Tony with strange expressions.
"Don't worry, our keeper clearly anticipated this happening," Tony quickly said.
The students looked down again, half-believing, and saw the keeper below being continuously battered by the Rhino Man.
"Time to go." Tony flew to the stairwell entrance and shouted, "Kids, go this way. Don't worry, with us here, the Rhino Man won't hurt you." At this, most of the students relaxed and began rushing toward the stairwell.
Below, Captain America Steve, feeling the pain in his body, gritted his teeth. He had to completely occupy the Rhino Man's attention.
"Huh?" Aleksei was about to turn his head. Seeing this, Steve quickly seized the chance to hit the Rhino Man's back of the head. His goal now was not to defeat the Rhino Man, but to attract his attention.
"You damned bug~" Aleksei was fed up with Captain America's annoyance. He lowered the bright rhino horn on his head and charged toward Steve. Earlier, when hitting Steve, he had only used his arms because he was afraid of breaking the shield in Steve's hand. Now, he didn't care about that at all.
"I feel like I'm fighting a giant meatball," Steve thought, rolling his eyes in weariness. The Rhino Man was right in front of him. Steve raised his shield to block. The rhino horn and the shield collided. Bang! Bang! A massive sound roared out, stirring up clouds of dust.
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