"Of course," Carly said smugly. "I don't care how strong this guy's body is—everything has a threshold. Pump enough into him and he's going down."
Grinning with satisfaction, she added, "Once this job's done, I can finally get the hell out of this dump. Now shut up and get us out of here."
By the time Banner was dragged out of the tunnel, Blonsky had just arrived. He looked at the exhausted Carly and congratulated her, "Congrats, ma'am. Orders just came in—you're headed straight to Langley. Time to report to your superior."
"Oh thank God. I'm finally leaving this godforsaken place!"
The news of Banner's capture quickly made it back to New York. General Ross, who had been under enormous pressure, finally felt relieved. But William, on the other hand, was deeply concerned.
If the U.S. government was allowed to freely experiment on Banner, who knew how many more Abominations—or worse—Ross might create?
And Ross's obsession with obtaining the Decepticon ship technology, along with his strategic troop deployments, made William worry that the Decepticons might fail and leave Ross and the U.S. as the ultimate victors.
Sure, fighting aliens together was fine, but William would never allow the Americans to dominate outer space.
"Does Banner have any Spider-Bots on him?" William asked.
"Yes, sir," Sunday replied. "From the moment we detected Bruce Banner, we deployed Spider-Bots in his shoes, watch, and clothing."
"Good. Once the transport plane enters U.S. airspace over a major city, hit Banner's temple with an electric jolt. Wake the Hulk."
"Understood, sir."
Inside the cargo hold transporting Banner, two spider-sized robots crawled silently from the seams of his shoes, slipping up into his hair, waiting patiently for the command.
At 3 a.m., four hours later, as the plane flew over New York, two tiny arcs of electricity zapped into Banner's temples.
His eyes snapped open—green light spreading rapidly through his irises.
"ROAR!"
A thunderous roar filled the aircraft, the clanking of chains echoing alongside it.
"Shit!" Blonsky and the others, who had been resting with their eyes closed, stared in horror as Banner transformed into a massive, 2.4-meter-tall green monster in mere seconds.
Before Blonsky could give the order, the six elite soldiers and a handful of regular troops raised their weapons and opened fire.
Pfft-pfft! Pfft-pfft!
But the tranquilizer darts bounced right off Hulk's skin like rain on armor. They clattered harmlessly to the floor.
"Switch to live rounds! Suppress him!" Blonsky shouted, grabbing his headset and yelling to the cockpit, "Open the cargo bay door! Eject the freight racks!"
Unfortunately, the pilot hesitated just a second or two before reacting. That was enough. Hulk snapped his chains.
Even the thick, reinforced manacles on his hands and feet tore apart under his overwhelming strength.
Shielding his eyes momentarily from the cabin lights, Hulk paused—until he realized the soldiers weren't letting up. That's when he truly lost his temper.
He lunged forward, crossing five or six meters in a flash, slamming into two soldiers.
BOOM! Their bodies crunched into the plane's interior, leaving a humanoid dent.
Grabbing one of the already-mangled corpses, Hulk hurled it at the others like a wrecking ball, scattering soldiers who now hesitated to even fire.
During the brief lull, Hulk didn't pursue them. Instead, he raised his fists high and let out an earth-shattering roar.
But that roar acted like a starting gun—those still holding their nerve instinctively opened fire again.
RATATATAT! RATATATAT! Dozens of bullets peppered Hulk's back, leaving behind only small, faint marks on his unbreakable skin.
One arm shielding his head, Hulk reached for the nearest freight rack and flung it straight into the densest part of the crowd.
CRASH! Two unfortunate souls were sent flying as the rack ripped through the cabin wall, allowing hurricane-force wind to flood the aircraft.
"Shit! Bail! Bail! Everyone jump!" Blonsky shouted, grabbing his parachute and securing the refrigerated box holding Banner's blood sample.
The soldiers, seeing an unstoppable monster and a plane that could fall apart any second, stopped thinking about duty. No one wanted to become Hulk's next projectile.
With chaos breaking out, Hulk surprisingly didn't target everyone. Aside from two who kept pulling their triggers, he ignored the rest.
Instead, he roared again—this time like a triumphant king surveying his defeated foes.
Seeing this, Blonsky whispered to his men, "Don't move. Everyone back away slowly. Don't provoke him. He might still have a sliver of self-control."
Despite their pounding hearts, the soldiers obeyed. Some even raised their hands in surrender.
And, to their amazement, Blonsky was right. Hulk spun around a few times, realized no one was attacking, and stopped moving. He simply stood there, breathing heavily.
Watching all this, William—who had been alerted by Sunday—was surprised.
But then he thought about it: in the films, Hulk only truly lost control twice—once when Loki used the Mind Stone, and once under Scarlet Witch's magical influence.
Other than that, he smashed with purpose and often fled to uninhabited areas after fights.
Blonsky's calm and strategic response impressed William, too. It seemed getting wrecked by Decepticons and almost dying had matured the man.
As the passengers stood frozen, the plane suddenly groaned with the sound of twisting metal. Hulk glanced at Blonsky, then turned and leapt through the open cargo door.
As he vanished into the night, Blonsky sprinted to the door and stared into the darkness where Hulk had disappeared, a single thought racing through his mind:
If Banner could retain some control... could I, too, retain my memory and reason?
The idea of transforming into a nearly indestructible powerhouse filled Blonsky with excitement. His breath grew heavy.
"Jump! Jump!" the pilot's voice echoed through the comms. Without hesitation, Blonsky secured the cold storage case, gave a smirk, and dove from the plane.
Meanwhile, like a green meteor, Hulk crashed down from the sky—smashing straight into one of New York's most iconic buildings.
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