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◇ One bonus chapter will be released for every 100 Power Stones. or 500 Collections
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"Ah—"
Wanda stared at the towering mass rushing closer; the raw, crushing force of violence blanked her mind, and the magic she'd gathered scattered in an instant.
Terror drained the color from her face; her legs felt filled with lead and wouldn't move.
"Wanda!!"
A flash of silver light.
Pietro tackled his sister at the last second, and the two rolled more than ten meters together.
"BOOM!!"
Where Hulk landed, a deep crater exploded open and the ground rippled like a wave.
"You okay?!" Pietro helped Wanda up, asking in alarm.
Wanda's face was pale, her whole body shaking. "Sorry, Pietro… I messed up. I wanted to help…"
"Hrrragh—!"
Missing its first strike, Hulk didn't pause; he charged again on all fours like a gigantic gorilla, each leap covering dozens of meters.
"Hey! Green fatty! Over here!"
Tony Stark had arrived.
Blue flames roared from the Anti-Hulk Armor's thrusters, slamming the suit bodily onto Hulk and pinning him down.
"Clack-clack-clack-clack—"
Hydraulic pistons inside the arms began racing back and forth!
"Bam-bam-bam-bam-bam-bam—!!!"
In a few seconds it delivered more than a hundred heavy punches!
Every fist landed squarely on Hulk's cheek.
"Go to sleep! Go to sleep! Go to sleep!"
Tony shouted with each blow.
Every punch came with the sharp hiss of released hydraulics.
Hulk's face was knocked sideways, the green skin rippling like a wave.
"Ptoo!"
Something white, mixed with saliva, flew from Hulk's mouth, hit the ground and bounced twice.
It was a tooth.
"Uh… sorry?" Tony froze for a second. "If you don't have Dental Insurance, I can reimburse you…"
Hulk seized the opening and punched the Anti-Hulk Armor away.
Then slowly stuck out his tongue, licked the new gap, and the gate of memory swung open.
The last time he'd lost a tooth, it had been knocked out by that masked dark-skinned monster.
It was a pain Hulk would remember forever.
And now… this tin man dared knock out another of his teeth?!
Humiliation.
Endless humiliation.
"Aaaargh—!"
"Hulk… will… smash you!!!"
A low roar rumbled from deep in Hulk's throat, like a volcano about to erupt.
His green skin darkened; his frame swelled again, muscle fibers taut as steel cables.
"Sir, gamma readings inside Dr. Banner have exceeded the threshold," Jarvis reported coolly. "Recommend immediate ejection—I am serious."
"Hulk… strongest!!!"
With a thunderous roar Hulk moved so fast even radar lost track.
He grabbed the Anti-Hulk Armor's left arm.
"Screeech—!"
The multi-ton titanium-alloy limb was ripped off like a dry twig!
Sparks flew; hydraulic fluid gushed.
"Alert! Left arm lost!"
A knee-strike followed.
"THUD!"
The Anti-Hulk Armor's chest plate caved in; Tony was pinned inside, unable to move.
Still unsatisfied, Hulk prepared to tear the tin can to scraps.
He raised the torn-off arm like a club and smashed it wildly at Tony.
"Bang! Bang! Bang!"
The Anti-Hulk Armor was battered backward step after step!
Before Tony could reorganize his defenses, Hulk front-kicked him square in the chest reactor.
"BOOM!"
The Anti-Hulk Armor shot off like a human cannonball, punched through two three-story buildings, and crashed at the edge of the square.
Watching Tony's helpless plight…
Hidden behind the rubble, Pietro pulled a green syringe from an inner pocket.
It was the last of the two T-VEX doses he'd drawn two days ago—one already used.
He lifted the vial and aimed the needle at his own thigh!
But fate loves a cruel joke.
"Hulk… CLAP!!"
Mid-charge, Hulk slammed his palms together.
"CRACK—!!!"
A visible, High-Pressure Shockwave swept out!
It flipped the rising Anti-Hulk Armor and, in its wake, rushed toward Wanda.
"Look out!"
Pietro instinctively dove and shoved Wanda aside.
"Bang!"
The blast struck him square in the chest, slamming him against a load-bearing pillar of the residential building behind him.
"Hurk—!"
Pietro coughed up a mouthful of blood.
Several tons of concrete slabs and rebar rained down, burying him in rubble and leaving only his upper body exposed.
The already crumbling apartment block, shaken by the blast, collapsed completely.
A huge precast slab broke loose; the heavy floor slab plummeted straight at Pietro's head!
"No!! Pietro!!"
Wanda screamed with all her heart.
She rushed forward, hands raised high above her head.
"Up… UP!!"
Crimson energy surged out, forming a red shield that held the multi-ton concrete slab suspended.
"Uraaagh—!!"
Wanda's arms shook; blood even dripped from her nostrils.
The slab froze half a meter above Pietro, hovering.
"Wan… Wanda… run…" Pietro lay beneath, the T-VEX vial shattered in the Impact, green fluid soaking into the dirt.
Despair filled him.
"No!!" Wanda sobbed, holding firm. "I'm not going anywhere!"
But Hulk didn't stop.
Seeing the red energy swirling around Wanda only enraged him further.
He leapt in front of her and raised a massive fist.
Shadow fell over Wanda.
Her hands had to keep channeling to hold the slab; if she let go, Pietro would die.
If she didn't let go, Hulk would smash her to death.
A dead end.
"Sorry, Pietro…"
Wanda closed her eyes; time seemed to slow to a crawl.
Yet the expected agony never came—instead a voice reached her ears.
"Is this how you treat a lady, big guy?"
Trembling, Wanda lifted her lashes.
The sight before her wasn't Hulk's hideous green face.
It was a back.
Broad, upright, a star-spangled cloak fluttering in the wind, glittering under the sun.
The skintight blue costume traced perfect muscular lines—especially below the waist… that flawless curve of waist and rear drew the eye helplessly.
Taut and powerful, like Michelangelo's proudest work, radiating a masculine hormone that set cheeks aflame.
In that instant Wanda felt her heart skip half a beat.
"Who… who is this…?"
And that back, with a red-gloved hand, was casually raised overhead.
It caught Hulk's gigantic fist without the slightest tremor.
Not a single budge.
"Seriously."
Homelander tilted his head slightly, looking at the stunned Hulk.
"Don't you think it's time for a manicure? Looks really unhygienic."