The Sun set in the west.
Calver Lake was very quiet; a gentle breeze swept across the surface, creating ripples while caressing the riverbank, waking Natasha who had been lying unconscious on the grass.
Natasha slowly opened her eyes, staring blankly at the orange-red Sun.
The next second.
As her pupils quickly focused, she leaped up from the grass and swiftly assumed her classic combat stance.
But…
There was no one around, except for the yellow corolla not far away, whose roof she had just flattened, and Bruce Banner, lying lifeless in front of the ruins of the nearby vacation cabin.
Wait.
Bruce Banner?
Natasha reacted, quickly running to Bruce, who was drenched, wearing only a pair of high-quality shorts, and lying on the cracked ground. After checking that Bruce still had a faint breath, she quickly took out an injection from her pocket and plunged it directly into Bruce's chest with a click.
The injection had an immediate effect.
The very next second after Natasha pulled out the needle, Bruce, who had his eyes closed, suddenly opened them.
The next second.
"Ah!"
Bruce Banner suddenly sat up from the ground, his face filled with terror, his mouth wide open, gasping for air.
Natasha, who was standing by, watching Bruce revive, couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief.
After a while.
Bruce's breathing gradually calmed down, and his terrified expression slowly softened.
Natasha helped Bruce to the riverbank and sat him down under a tree that had broken off two-thirds of the way up. Once Bruce was resting against the tree, she began to ask him questions.
"What happened?"
"…"
Bruce didn't speak, his brows furrowed, as if trying hard to recall something.
Natasha didn't rush him; she waited for Bruce to recall, and at the same time, she seemed to think of something, subconsciously touching the back of her head.
In her mind, she once again recalled the pair of eyes she had seen when she fainted.
After all…
They were a perfect pair of fan-shaped eyes.
Who is she?
Natasha thought to herself.
Just then.
Bruce, with furrowed brows, looked down at his arms, squeezed them hard, and seemingly confirmed something. He then looked up at Natasha, thought for a moment, and said in a deep voice, "Hulk is dead."
Natasha snapped back, instinctively widening her eyes as she looked at Bruce, as if she hadn't heard clearly, or perhaps couldn't quite believe the answer.
After all…
That was Hulk.
"Hulk is dead!"
Bruce Banner repeated, recalling the residual memories in his mind: "He dragged Hulk to the bottom of the lake. Hulk couldn't escape him and was forcibly suppressed at the bottom of the lake. He seemed to not need to breathe, and he killed Hulk at the bottom of the lake. But… he didn't choose to kill me."
His tone had an indescribable feeling, and he even had a strange feeling towards the killer of Hulk.
How to put it?
Hate him?
Not really.
Because no one hated Hulk more than he did, even though after the Battle of New York, he and Hulk reconciled, and he could freely control his transformation into Hulk, this didn't mean he completely accepted Hulk.
Let's put it this way, if he had a choice, he still wished he wouldn't turn into Hulk anymore.
After all, Hulk destroyed everything he once had, causing him to leave his girlfriend, and also causing him to hide in Balat, where even the air was toxic.
And now his dream had come true; someone had truly helped him kill the Hulk within him.
So, from this perspective, Bruce was more grateful than anything; how could he hate him?
It's just…
Speaking of gratitude?
Bruce Banner frowned slightly, feeling a strange sensation.
He couldn't quite describe what that feeling was now.
But one thing was certain.
"Hulk is dead."
"Killed by someone named Hawk."
"I'm very sure about this."
Bruce took a deep breath. Under Natasha's gaze, he clenched his fists, but he could no longer feel the familiar tremor that used to precede his transformation into Hulk.
He even felt a little lost, as if he had lost something.
Natasha also fell silent, listening to Bruce's confirmation.
Just then, an urgent phone ring sounded from the grass not far away.
Natasha first froze, then reacted, quickly got up, and ran in the direction of the sound.
Indeed.
It was her dropped phone.
Natasha quickly picked up the phone from the ground, looked at the incoming call on the screen, took a deep breath, and answered the phone.
"Director."
"Natasha."
S.H.I.E.L.D. Triskelion Headquarters.
Nick Fury, in his recognizable black trench coat and eye patch, stood with his hands on his hips in the combat command center. As Natasha's voice clearly came through, he immediately asked.
"How long until you arrive in Tennessee?"
"Estimated…"
Natasha opened her mouth, then looked at Bruce Banner, who was leaning against the tree, his expression unreadable, a mix of happiness, loss, and anger. She then reacted.
"Director, Hulk was killed."
"…"
Nick Fury's expression, with his hands on his hips, instantly froze.
His single eye also involuntarily constricted.
Commander Maria Hill, standing by in her S.H.I.E.L.D. combat uniform, also couldn't help but be stunned by Natasha's words.
"What do you mean Hulk is dead? Is Bruce Banner dead?"
"No, Dr. Bruce Banner is still alive, but Hulk is dead."
"…"
Hulk is dead, but Bruce Banner isn't?
This confused the Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. and the S.H.I.E.L.D. Commander.
Nick Fury recovered, his dark face filled with seriousness: "Report in detail."
Natasha acknowledged, then began to recount everything from when she picked up Dr. Bruce Banner at the airport.
She spoke of their smooth arrival at the vacation cabin, how Dr. Bruce Banner had put away his luggage and was preparing to return to the airport to head to Tennessee, when a person claiming to be his sister, Hawk, appeared, seeking revenge.
She then continued to describe how Hawk, who appeared to be under twenty-one, fought evenly with Hulk, even dragging Hulk into the lake, and subsequently killed Hulk in the lake.
She held nothing back, recounting everything in detail, including the incident where she was knocked unconscious by Gwen.
Nick Fury and Maria Hill, in the Triskelion Command Center, were completely dumbfounded listening to Natasha's account.
Especially upon hearing that Natasha was knocked unconscious by a girl who was also under twenty-one, Maria Hill's mouth couldn't help but twitch.
Nick Fury's breathing even hitched.
Goodness.
A S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, a super Agent code-named Black Widow, knocked unconscious by a girl under twenty-one?
This must be a joke.
Natasha also keenly caught the pause in breathing on the other end of the phone: "I'm sorry, Director, Commander, things happened too suddenly, and I didn't have time to think carefully at the moment."
Thinking about it now, she was indeed careless at the time.
How could a stranger, a young girl, appear so coincidentally at that time and place?
But at the time, she had just woken up from the Impact, her head was still a bit muddled, and Gwen had no weapons and indeed looked unthreatening.
The result…
A future black mark appeared.
As soon as Natasha thought of this black mark she would have in the future, her mood instantly became a little melancholic.
Just then, Maria Hill's voice sounded again.
"Do you think the girl who knocked you out and the one named Hawk are working together?"
"Without a doubt."
Natasha nodded affirmatively, then seemed to think of something and frowned slightly.
"However…"
"Speak."
Nick Fury's tone was low.
Natasha recounted what Bruce had just told her: that after Hulk died, Hawk could have left him at the bottom of the lake to drown, but instead chose to rescue him.
And herself.
Natasha at this moment recalled a phrase Hawk had said at the time.
"Every wrong has its master, every debt its debtor."
"What?"
Maria Hill, hearing Natasha's sudden mumble, seemed not to have heard clearly.
Natasha recovered: "Commander, that Hawk said from the beginning that he came for Hulk, for revenge."
So…
This was why the other party didn't kill Natasha and Bruce Banner?
Quite principled.
Maria Hill thought to herself.
But Nick Fury clearly didn't think so.
"Heh."
Nick Fury, with his hands on his hips, sneered: "Natasha, you just said that he called out your name and S.H.I.E.L.D. at the very beginning?"
Natasha snapped back.
"Yes."
"He's scared, he doesn't want to be our enemy."
"…"
Natasha fell silent.
Maria Hill looked sideways at Nick Fury, her brows slightly furrowed.
She didn't quite agree with Nick Fury's statement.
They knew how powerful Hulk was; he couldn't even be killed when confined in a glass cage from miles high.
What's more, a Hawk who could kill Hulk?
Maria Hill thought, just as she was about to voice her objection, Nick Fury spoke again.
"That Hawk's name is just Hawk. Are there any other details that can help us find him?"
"...One moment."
Natasha, hearing Nick Fury's words, was slightly stunned. She instinctively looked around and then saw the license plate on the flattened corolla nearby: "Director, a car suspected to be theirs was found at the scene."
Nick Fury's single eye lit up at the news.
"GW521!"
"Check it!"
Nick Fury immediately ordered a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent.
The S.H.I.E.L.D. agent acknowledged and began operating on the keyboard.
…
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