Five Minutes Ago.
Kaecilius's POV
I waited for Bruce Banner as he exited his favorite coffee shop with an autobiography in one hand and a steaming latte in the other. He had a simple smile on his face, the sort of contentment that should've been impossible for a man so destined for tragedy as Banner.
So far, his caretakers had shielded him completely. The Widows, the round-the-clock SHIELD detail, and the enchantments woven into the charming little watch his girlfriend had bought for him meant to regulate his mood. Banner was so ignorant it was disgusting.
I was envious.
I almost regretted shattering him.
"Remember, Edwin, just like we talked about," I said to the man leaning against the lamppost, his eyes hidden behind a pair of glasses. "No improvising."
"That only happened once," the vampire said. "And nobody got hurt."
"See to it that it doesn't happen this time, or—"
"You'll melt me with a single thought," he grumbled. "I know the deal." Edwin McDougal, former amputee and now an original vampire, 'bumped' into Bruce Banner, spilling coffee all over his jacket.
I used that brief distraction to remove the enchanted watch from Banner's hand. Taking the watch was bound to set off some alarm, but that was a foregone conclusion.
"What the—" Bruce almost lost his temper as he flicked his hands and wiped away whatever liquid he could remove from himself.
"I'm so sorry." Edwin quickly reached for his wallet and produced some cash. "Allow me to pay for it."
Bruce looked up at the cash and straight into Edwin's eyes, and that was all it took.
"Get angry, Bruce. Get angry and stay angry. Think up every slight, every annoyance, every mistake somebody made at your expense, and every emotion you've stifled down since your change. Dwell in that anger. And hold on to it like a lifeline."
Bruce blinked at first, then tried to speak, only to be interrupted by his bones cracking and his muscles tearing, rearranging themselves. Edwin took a step back, then another, his mouth falling open as Bruce's skin shifted green and he grew nearly twice as big. His shirt exploded, and his shoes peeled off, but his pants somehow, peculiarly, stayed on, protecting his privacy, not that it mattered much.
A sentinel appeared beside Banner, but before he could administer whatever ministrations it was programmed to do, I crushed it with my telekinesis and pushed it through a portal.
Bruce Banner took a step forward, cracking the pavement underneath him like glass, and roared. Hot wind swept through the people staring on in horror, signs and street furniture overturning. Screams filled the street, and I smiled, my heart beating the slightest bit faster.
Yes.
Edwin slowly scrambled back to his feet, jaw slack as he looked up at the titan he had just unleashed. Banner noticed him too.
He chuffed like some great bull and swatted, crushing every bone in Edwin's body and sending him flying. I opened a portal to whisk him away, disappearing him just before Banner grabbed at him and roared again.
A bloody streak of broken bodies and upturned infrastructure marked the path between where he had been and the spot where Edwin vanished.
The screams were deafening now, and that only made Banner angrier. He grabbed an oncoming car and flung it into an approaching truck, flipping and capsizing it and flattening five other cars.
Smog and the tang of blood filled the air as I muttered a few spells, drawing from a philosopher's stone I had woven from the lives of a few million people a few worlds back.
I granted Banner strength, increased durability, warded his mind devilishly, and tethered him dimensionally to this city using the sun and a chunk of my philosopher's stone. So long as it was up, he couldn't leave.
I smirked. That ought to do the trick.
As if I'd invoked the name of Death herself, the GDF came. Captain America arrived first, appearing in front of the giant and turtling under his shield as a fist came down, saving the life of a frightened woman. The anger practically poured out of his eyes as he looked up at Bruce.
"Team, take him down," he ordered, and they did.
An Asian man teleported in, appearing midair and driving a fist into the giant's jaw. It glowed a starry white just before impact, and a concussive wave flowed out as Banner tumbled back.
Another came at him from behind, a British woman carving through his hamstrings, or at least trying to, with a sword. A third man fired a beam of light from the air, drilling into Banner as he screamed and pushed back.
For a moment, I feared it wouldn't be enough—all of my preparation and plotting—until Banner started to grow. First by a few millimeters, then a centimeter, and then a foot. His roar split the air, and he moved faster than even I could track, swatting the flyer.
He never landed, teleporting away and arriving back at the battlefield with his rune-covered armor glowing. Captain America flung his shield to meet the Hulk midair. The rim glowed just before impact, and it sliced through flesh like it was silk, burying itself deep into the giant's gut. Banner pitched forward as he landed, and the British officer grabbed hold of him and tried teleporting, but to no avail.
Banner grabbed hold of her and squeezed, and she yelped, more out of surprise than anything else; then, she teleported away and spared Captain America a look.
Right. Telepathic communication. It seems they've developed good habits.
I briefly entertained breaching their network, but stopped myself. It was a gamble whether I could at all, not to mention the type of attention I would be attracting. I didn't want to face Dante head-on.
Not yet.
Two more figures appeared in the air over Manhattan. A girl with pinkish-purplish magical energy pouring off her, and a golden man.
My eyes went wide.
They looked at me at once, piercing my invisibility spell, and I teleported immediately, biting my lip. I stayed for too long. Now, they know for certain it's me.
I suppose it wasn't too great a loss. They were always going to find out in Russia.
It was time to put the flesh abominations into play.
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