Abomination froze in place.
For a moment, the battlefield fell into silence.
No one had expected that Senju Haruto would stop his punch with nothing more than a raised hand.
That strike carried hundreds of tons of force—enough to crush a car into scrap metal.
From the helicopter above, both Ross and Fury held their breath. They had always assumed Haruto's greatest strength lay in his ability to animate machinery and transform it into his steel soldiers. His actual body, they believed, should be no different from that of an ordinary human—capable of being injured, of bleeding.
But what they were witnessing now shattered that belief.
Even Stark stared at Haruto in disbelief.
Before Haruto had arrived at Broadway, Stark himself had gone up against Abomination. He knew firsthand the kind of monstrous power that creature possessed. And yet here was Haruto, meeting it with bare flesh and bone, effortlessly holding it back.
What the hell was this guy?
Could it be… magic?
"This isn't possible," Abomination snarled.
But the truth was hardest on him.
Not long ago, he had taken Sterns's modified Hulk serum, fused with a replicated version of the Super Soldier serum. His body had become hideous, yes—but his strength was unmatched. Invincible, even.
He had defeated the Hulk himself, the very monster that General Ross had chased and cursed for so long.
By all rights, he should be untouchable.
"This isn't possible!" Abomination roared again. His fist shot upward, muscles swelling, veins bulging across his monstrous arms. He slammed down another punch with all his power.
"My strength is limitless!"
BOOM!
The earth-shaking crash erupted across Broadway. A shockwave rippled outward in concentric waves, smothering every flame still burning in the street.
But instead of triumph, the sight only shook Abomination further.
What was this man?
First, impossible technology.
Now, impossible flesh.
Who was Senju Haruto?
Cold sweat formed on Abomination's forehead. A sense of dread clawed its way up his chest, tearing apart the confidence he had just built.
And then—
CRASH!
The Hulk burst free from the wreckage of the collapsed building that had pinned him, slamming down into the street like a falling meteor. His feet cracked the pavement, leaving two deep craters where he landed.
"RAAAAHHHH!"
His thunderous roar shook the air, burning with pure rage. His gaze swept the battlefield until it locked onto Abomination.
The Hulk's lips curled upward into a smile.
The anger surging through him made him stronger than before, muscles swelling with new power. He stepped forward, eager to throw himself back into the fight—
But then, suddenly, he froze.
The smile vanished.
Because Hulk had seen not just Abomination… but someone else.
Haruto.
The rage-filled titan was not without reason. Nor was he without memory. Every time he tore free from Banner's body, he remembered fragments of what had happened.
Back during the events of Ragnarok, Hulk had remembered Earth. He had remembered that no one wanted him.
Now, as his eyes landed on Haruto again, old memories surged up: memories of Haruto in Six Paths Mode, unleashing power so overwhelming that even Hulk had felt despair.
"...Hulk."
Abomination's growl rumbled low in his throat.
Both Hulk and Haruto stood before him now. Enemies who each demanded his full focus.
And Haruto… Haruto was far more terrifying than he had ever imagined.
Abomination's nerves twisted. But the situation was even worse than he feared.
Just as he tried to retreat, putting space between himself and Haruto, he realized something—
Haruto hadn't just blocked his punch.
He was holding on to him.
Because of their size difference, Haruto couldn't fully wrap his hand around Abomination's fist. But even gripping just part of it, Haruto kept him completely locked in place.
Abomination couldn't pull free.
It was his movements that were being restricted.
"Damn…" Abomination cursed inwardly.
But was the danger Hulk glaring at him from behind? Or was it Haruto's monstrous strength?
Either way, the odds had turned against him.
"Hulk?"
Stark's eyes shifted toward the green giant. He had been the first hero to reach Broadway. He had seen Abomination kick Hulk into the distance like a ragdoll.
He had expected Hulk to charge back in and tear into his enemy.
Instead, he now watched in shock as Hulk's massive body began to shrink.
In only a few breaths, the creature was gone—replaced once more by Dr. Bruce Banner. His oversized shorts slipped to the ground, leaving him bare and bewildered.
Banner blinked up at the towering Abomination in front of him, mouth agape, lost in confusion.
"Hulk? Where are you? What are you doing?"
"Hey—Hulk!" Banner slapped himself across the face, hard, desperate to force Hulk back out. In his mind, only Hulk could fight Abomination.
But no matter how furious he tried to make himself, Hulk refused to return.
"You're embarrassing me, Hulk. What, are you scared now?" Banner mocked himself bitterly.
Still, Hulk did not answer.
Abomination, however, understood what had happened.
No, Hulk hadn't disappeared out of fear of him. Just moments ago, Hulk's eyes had burned with excitement, with the joy of finding his target again.
Abomination, with his years of battlefield experience, could read eyes better than anyone. He knew that look.
But he had seen something else in Hulk's gaze before the transformation.
Fear.
And it wasn't fear of him.
It was fear of someone standing nearby.
Senju Haruto.
Abomination whipped his head back, staring at Haruto with dawning horror.
This ordinary-looking young man had made the Hulk feel fear.
What had he done to him?
No… Abomination already knew the answer.
His throat bobbed as he swallowed, dread pooling in his stomach.
But he still didn't realize what was about to happen.
"So this is Gamma energy," Haruto murmured softly.
He twisted his wrist, and with nothing more than a casual motion, lifted Abomination into the air.
Then, before anyone could react—
He threw him.
Like tossing out the trash, Haruto hurled the hulking monster away.
Abomination had no chance to correct himself in midair. His body carved a heavy arc through the sky before smashing into the ground with brutal force, skidding across the street in a storm of rubble and dust.
"You said just now that your strength was limitless?"
Haruto's lips curled into a faint smile.
"You were wrong, Abomination."