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Hulk charged forward while fighting through the haze of tranquilizers still flooding his system.
This was miserable.
When had Hulk ever fought like this?
If not for the fear that Banner might die, Hulk would not even bother coming out to deal with something like this.
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
Riding on sheer momentum, Hulk slammed Abomination to the ground and unleashed a brutal flurry of punches.
From the outside, it looked overwhelming, like Abomination had no chance to fight back.
But Jimmy could tell.
Abomination was adjusting his posture.
Those punches were sending car parts flying, but they were not actually doing meaningful damage.
Worse, Abomination could feel it too.
Hulk's punches were getting weaker.
"Pathetic," Abomination spat. "That is all you have, then die."
With a powerful kick, Abomination launched Hulk away.
"Crash!"
Hulk smashed through the side of a distant building, tearing a massive hole straight through it.
Jimmy sprinted toward the impact point, hoping to get close enough to communicate with Hulk.
After kicking Hulk away, Abomination moved toward the hole, peering inside.
Hulk had crashed completely through the structure.
Abomination hesitated, deciding whether to enter the building or circle around.
That was when the military helicopter arrived overhead.
"Open fire, cut him in half."
A gunner hesitated.
"Which one?"
Ross nearly exploded.
"The yellow one, obviously the yellow one. Are you blind?"
The helicopter's gun spun up.
The familiar whine filled the air.
Gunfire rained down.
The rounds slammed into Abomination's body, barely punching through the outer skin.
"Ross"
Abomination glanced back at the helicopter, then began climbing rapidly toward the rooftop.
---
By the time Jimmy reached the impact site, Hulk was already sitting atop a crushed car, breathing heavily.
Hulk looked up when he saw Jimmy.
He remembered this blue little one.
"Hulk, up there," Jimmy shouted.
Hulk followed his gaze.
On the rooftop, Abomination leapt across the gap as the helicopter chased him, guns blazing.
Hulk reached out and grabbed Jimmy.
Jimmy froze.
What!
Before Jimmy could react, Hulk took off at full speed, sprinting toward the building with Jimmy clutched in one hand.
Something was wrong.
Very wrong.
Jimmy's danger sense had not triggered at all.
Then it clicked.
Jimmy's perception was tuned to hostile intent.
But Hulk did not understand hostility.
This grab was not malicious.
It was instinctive.
Like a child picking up a toy.
Hulk had no concept of right or wrong.
Only preference.
He did not want to hurt Jimmy.
So Jimmy felt nothing.
Hulk bounded up the building in massive leaps, one hand gripping Jimmy, until they reached the rooftop.
At that moment, Abomination leapt into the air, reaching for the helicopter.
"Whoosh!"
"Hulk, you absolute maniac," Jimmy yelled.
Everyone froze.
Soldiers.
Civilians.
Even Abomination.
All of them were stunned by what happened next, Abomination was airborne, stretching to grab Ross's helicopter.
Hulk could not catch him in time.
So Hulk did the simplest thing.
Without even looking, Hulk hurled Jimmy forward with all his strength.
Straight toward Abomination's head.
In Banner's fragmented memories, one thought surfaced clearly.
The little blue one was tough.
Tougher than a police car.
Hulk had tested that earlier.
It was solid.
Perfect.
A good weapon.
Jimmy was cursing nonstop, but the crisis in front of him could not be ignored.
If Abomination managed to swing back and land a clean hit, Jimmy would be turned into a human shuttlecock.
Thankfully, Hulk had put real power into that throw.
The speed was insane.
And more importantly, Abomination was airborne, with no way to adjust his trajectory.
It was a perfect throw.
If only the projectile had not been Jimmy.
Jimmy twisted his body midair, forcing his claws forward.
Straight at Abomination's eye.
There was no elegance.
No finesse.
Just raw timing and instinct.
"Slash!"
Jimmy tore past Abomination, ripping one of his eyes clean out.
Then Jimmy himself vanished into the distance like a shooting star, That throw went from zero to highway speed in a fraction of a second.
Hulk's anger consumed. One unit.
Before Abomination could even register the pain, Hulk leapt forward.
Earlier, Abomination had kicked Hulk away using one leg.
This time, Hulk used both.
A brutal double kick sent Abomination flying.
Hulk did not stop.
He kicked off the nearby wall, adjusted his balance in midair, and grabbed onto the helicopter's landing gear with both hands.
From the cockpit, Thaddeus Ross finally understood Hulk's intent.
"Go, follow him," Ross shouted.
The helicopter surged forward.
---
Meanwhile, Jimmy was still airborne.
A massive water tower rushed toward him.
He angled his body.
"Crash!"
The steel plating that should have stopped a truck failed to slow him down for even a second.
Jimmy punched straight through the tower.
Water exploded outward, momentarily slowing him, before he smashed through the opposite side and continued tumbling.
The destruction path looked less like an accident and more like a demolition run.
Jimmy finally skidded to a stop.
The armor held.
Barely.
"Fantastic," Jimmy muttered. "If I was not worried about my identity, I would just tear that idiot apart directly."
Still, the fight had not been a total loss.
Jimmy glanced at the nearby water tower, took several running steps, and jumped.
He landed on top.
"Hulk turned me into a throwing weapon," Jimmy thought darkly. "I am not forgetting this. One day, I am pulling his pants down in public."
He had just stabilized his footing when something yellow came flying in from the distance.
"Clang, Crash, Collapse."
A decrepit water facility was smashed apart as Abomination slammed into it, leaving twisted metal everywhere.
Moments later, the roar of helicopter blades echoed overhead.
Dangling beneath it was something green.
Hulk.
Abomination staggered to his feet, blood leaking from his ruined eye.
That earlier impact had not been easy to take.
Then Abomination noticed something.
Two massive steel pipes are nearby.
He grabbed one.
Then he slipped behind another water tower, covering himself with a huge sheet of metal.
The helicopter hovered, scanning the area.
"Roar!!"
Abomination burst out from cover.
The steel pipe left his hand like a thrown spear.
It punched straight through the helicopter.
Metal screamed.
The aircraft spun wildly and plummeted.
Luckily, it was military grade.
Otherwise, it would have exploded midair.
Hulk released his grip and leapt away just in time, The helicopter slammed into another water tower.
Water erupted like a collapsing dam, extinguishing the flames instantly.
Ross lost consciousness on impact.
The pilot remained strapped into his seat.
He barely had time to react before the torrent of water crashed down.
Within seconds, he drowned.
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