With the arrival of the Frieza Force, the scene's atmosphere suddenly shifted.
"Minions! Show these country bumpkins, the Avengers, the highest etiquette of the Ginyu Force!"
At this moment, Apocalypse, the mutant progenitor who once attempted to rule the world, was wearing his suffocatingly tight white and purple battle suit, roaring with fanaticism.
The next second.
Under the stunned gaze of the Avengers, the X-Men, and billions of spectators worldwide this group of supervillains, who usually kill without blinking, moved.
"Ginyu! Force!"
Apocalypse took the center position, standing on one leg with his arms dramatically spread wide, his blue face radiating confidence and disdain.
To his left, Erik, was half-crouching, making two V-signs with his hands, also looking confident.
To his right, Sebastian and Juggernaut struck their own classic poses.
Even Loki, gritting his teeth, struck the famous side-profile, butt-jutting pose, identical to Ginyu's.
In that moment, even the dust particles floating in the air seemed to freeze in embarrassment.
In the sky, Frieza floated a hundred meters above.
Watching the unique formation below, the corners of his lips couldn't help but twitch violently. He instinctively raised his hand and gently rubbed his brow with two fingers.
"Oh dear..."
"These are the moves I personally taught and it is perfect."
"But..."
Frieza complained frantically in his mind, "Seeing it live, the level of embarrassment is completely off the charts. No wonder Frieza looked constipated and even flushed when he saw the Ginyu Force dancing back then."
The sight was too beautiful to behold.
Frieza peered through his fingers, and seeing Steve's expression below, his mood inexplicably improved.
"As long as I'm not embarrassed, the embarrassment belongs to everyone else."
"Ohohoho... This kind of psychological warfare is also a means of attacking the enemy."
However, certain people on the ground clearly hadn't learned that silence is golden.
"Pfft—"
An extremely untimely snicker broke the silence.
Peter, dressed in his red and blue suit, was crouching on a piece of rubble. Although he was nervous, upon seeing this scene, his incessant chatterbox mouth simply couldn't hold back.
"Uh... while it might be disrespectful to say this right now."
Peter pointed at Apocalypse and the others, who were frozen in their poses, his mask eyes squinting, one larger than the other.
"But is this really the elite force of the Emperor of the Universe?"
"Are you performing the latest circus act? Like, 'The Five Twisted Eggplants'?"
"These poses are ten thousand times dumber than the cheerleaders I see at school."
That sentence was like a spark dropped into a barrel of gunpowder.
Apocalypse's blue face instantly turned dark. Maintaining his one-legged stance, the veins on his forehead pulsed wildly like earthworms.
This was the greatest humiliation he had ever suffered in his life.
Playing the subservient role in front of that terrifying blonde demon was one thing. After all, he genuinely couldn't win.
But you, a mere child, dare to mock this lord?
"Do you want to die!"
Apocalypse roared in fury, not even bothering to break his pose, and thrust his hands forward violently.
Buzz!
A terrifying psychokinetic storm instantly formed, sweeping up countless pieces of rubble from the ground and blasting them toward the web-slinger like a shotgun.
"I'm going to rip out your tongue!"
"Whoa!"
Peter jumped, his Spider-Sense screaming warnings.
He quickly shot a web line, swinging himself into the air like a pendulum.
"He's throwing a fit! The big blue guy is throwing a fit!"
However, Apocalypse's attack didn't stop. His body flickered, instantly appearing where Peter was about to land, and he condensed a blade of energy in his hand, slashing down fiercely.
Just then—
"That's our kid! You ain't touchin' him!"
A muffled roar echoed out.
Bang!
A massive fist made entirely of orange rock shot out and slammed heavily against Apocalypse's energy shield.
It was the Thing from the Fantastic Four, Ben Grimm.
"That's more like it!"
Instead of being alarmed, Apocalypse was pleased, a cruel glint flashing in his eyes.
He had been looking for a place to vent his inner frustration and regain face in front of his master.
"Since you wish to die, I shall grant your wish!"
"Don't interfere! This rock pile is mine!"
Apocalypse yelled at Erik and the others behind him, then grabbed Ben's wrist with a backhand grip.
"Compared to my great lord, your rocky skin is as brittle as a potato chip."
Crack!
Apocalypse exerted sudden force, activating his mutant ability to restructure matter.
Ben's hard exterior began to crack and crumble in Apocalypse's grip.
"Agh—!" Ben cried out in pain.
But Apocalypse showed no mercy. He grabbed his ankle and slammed him violently into the ground like a rag doll.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Once on the left, once on the right.
Deep craters were smashed into the ground, sending debris flying.
Ben was completely overwhelmed, unable to fight back.
"Banner!"
He spat out rock fragments and shouted toward the rear, "Let the big guy out! I can't hold on much longer!"
Behind the rubble barricade in the rear, Bruce was huddled in a corner, pale and covered in sweat.
He heard Ben's cry for help and saw the brutality of the battlefield.
But...
"N-no... I can't..."
He clutched his head, his voice trembling. "Hulk... Hulk won't come out..."
"NO! HULK NO!"
In his mind, the green beast who was usually afraid of nothing, was currently curled up in a corner of their shared consciousness, shaking his head frantically like a frightened child.
Bruce secretly looked up at the sky.
Frieza was there, arms crossed, wearing an expression of amusement.
The terrifying pressure emanating from the depths of his soul made the Hulk inside him only want to crawl into a crack in the ground.
"He... he's afraid of the blonde one..." Bruce said despairingly.
In the previous battle, Frieza had flicked the Hulk with just a couple of fingers, leaving him questioning his existence. That absolute disparity in power had completely shattered the Hulk's confidence.
"Damn it!" Tony cursed.
"Even the big green guy is chickening out?"
In front, Ben was already pinned beneath Apocalypse's foot.
Apocalypse pressed one hand onto Ben's head, blue energy surging wildly.
"This is the fate of all who resist."
As Apocalypse watched Ben's skull gradually crack, a malicious grin—one he never dared show in front of Frieza—spread across his face.
"Die!"
"Ben!!!" Reed and Sue screamed in despair.
This sight deeply stung Bruce, who was huddled in the corner.
Friend.
Ben was his friend.
Although they hadn't known each other long, the mutual sympathy felt between two similar 'monsters' resonated deeply with him.
Seeing Ben's head about to be crushed, and seeing the utterly disappointed looks from his teammates, a surge of unprecedented rage erupted violently from the depths of both Bruce's and the Hulk's heart.
"Hulk..."
Bruce's eyes began to turn green, and the veins on his neck bulged.
He roared at the trembling soul inside their consciousness, "Look closely! The one hitting us isn't the blonde guy! It's that blue-skinned freak!"
"That blue guy is bullying our friend!"
"You're afraid of the golden one, but are you afraid of this blue one too?!"
"Are you truly a coward?!"
This sentence seemed to flip the switch on the Hulk's last shred of dignity.
In the consciousness space, the Hulk lifted his head, snorting two jets of air from his nostrils.
"Hulk... doesn't hit the blonde!"
"Hulk... hits the blue guy!"
"ROAR!!!"
In the real world, a deafening roar suddenly exploded.
Bruce's skinny body instantly ballooned, his green skin tearing through his shirt. In the blink of an eye, the green beast of rage had returned.
Boom!
The Hulk burst out, charging forward like an out-of-control heavy tank fueled by boundless fury.
He didn't even glance at Frieza in the sky. His bloodshot eyes were fixed solely on Apocalypse, who was still standing on Ben.
"Blue guy! Get off him!!!"
The Hulk leaped high, and his green fist, accompanied by a sonic boom, slammed violently down toward Apocalypse's astonished face.
"What?!" Apocalypse barely managed to raise his hand.
Bang!
A massive sound erupted, and Apocalypse was blasted backward dozens of meters by the punch, his feet carving two deep trenches into the ground.