BOOM!
Abomination's corpse plummeted from the air, smashing hard onto Broadway's pavement.
Breath. Heartbeat.
All those vital signs disappeared from his body in an instant.
With death came the collapse of cellular activity.
Even the Hulk factor within him decayed, unraveling.
His massive, grotesque body shrank in a disturbing, unnatural way.
Within moments, the towering Abomination had reverted back into Emil Blonsky's human form.
He lay flat on the street, eyes stretched wide open in eternal disbelief, staring blankly ahead.
And in those lifeless pupils, Senju Haruto's figure was reflected.
Stark and Banner, who had just recovered his wits, were stunned.
They had expected a fierce, evenly matched fight.
Even if Haruto was going to win, it shouldn't have been this easy.
By all the usual "rules," a battle between hero and villain went like this: the villain dominated at first, the hero struggled, then clawed his way to victory by finding a weakness.
But those rules didn't apply to Haruto.
No matter the enemy, he simply crushed them with overwhelming power, leaving them no chance, no hope at all.
And tonight, despair didn't belong only to Abomination.
It also swallowed General Ross.
Until this night, Ross had obsessed over capturing Hulk, extracting his blood, and forging a new breed of super soldiers.
He had believed, with absolute conviction, that only warriors like Hulk could destroy the mechanical apocalypse Haruto commanded—machines like Optimus Prime and Megatron.
But the truth hit harder than any weapon.
The faith Ross had placed in Hulk… was now broken.
Abomination was supposed to be that ultimate soldier, born from accident but perfected as a weapon.
To Ross, this clash between Abomination and Haruto was the decisive battle.
When Abomination crushed one of Haruto's Autobots earlier, Ross had actually felt relief.
At last, proof. The so-called mechanical apocalypse was nothing more than oversized toys in the face of a true super soldier.
But now…
Even if they mass-produced Abominations, they would still be nothing against Haruto.
His strength had already surpassed the worst scenarios Ross had imagined.
And what shook Ross most of all—
Why could Haruto transform into a Hulk?
Wasn't that power exclusive to Banner, who had been exposed to gamma radiation?
What was happening to this world?
Unless… Haruto had already mastered the technology, refining it to perfection long ago?
The more Ross thought, the colder his blood ran.
Haruto hadn't lost his mind in his Hulk form. He wasn't like Banner, who fought against uncontrollable rage.
No, Haruto was calm.
Which meant—
If he wanted, he could mass-produce super soldiers.
Gulp.
Ross swallowed hard, his throat dry. Sweat trickled down his forehead, soaking his back.
Haruto had to be eliminated.
Before he completely lost control…
Before he became humanity's enemy.
This wasn't about personal vengeance anymore.
It was about defending the country.
The world needed America as a beacon of freedom, leading mankind forward—
Not Haruto, that false god.
That tyrant.
Ross's right hand shook violently as he raised his communicator.
"Launch Liberty One."
"What are you doing?!"
Fury's voice cut in, startled.
Haruto's display of power had shaken him too, but not enough to push him toward such extremes.
After all, Fury had his trump card—Captain Marvel.
She was the one who gave him the confidence to stand toe-to-toe with any threat.
He might not like her personally, but he couldn't deny her power.
As long as Captain Marvel was on Earth's side, Fury never believed he could lose.
Mechanical apocalypse? Hulk transformations?
All were threats—but threats confined to Earth.
Captain Marvel was different. She could traverse the cosmos on her own, reaching galaxies even the most advanced technology couldn't touch.
Compared to her, even the mightiest of Haruto's machines—Optimus Prime or Megatron—were bound to this planet. At most, they could devastate a city in a single outburst.
But Captain Marvel could shatter stars.
And Hulk? He was nothing in comparison.
In the films, even his battles barely scarred a few streets.
That's why Fury, shaken as he was, didn't lose himself like Ross.
Still, what Haruto had just shown forced him to revise all his plans.
No matter the cost, he had to draw Haruto into the Avengers Initiative.
"This is our only chance!"
Ross roared, his voice cracking.
If they missed this moment, there might never be another chance to kill Haruto.
Broadway might be world-famous, but thanks to Abomination's rampage, the civilians had already been evacuated.
That made this the perfect battlefield.
With the military's new weapon, Haruto could be annihilated.
A biochemical missile designed to strip oxygen from a two-kilometer radius in seconds, laced with deadly toxins.
"Fire!"
Ross ignored Fury's protests.
They weren't bound by chain of command—Ross was a general, the man in charge of this operation.
On the other end of the line, soldiers obeyed his word, not Fury's.
The order went through.
A missile with terrifying payload was already streaking toward Broadway at supersonic speed.
"Climb! Higher!"
Ross barked at the helicopter pilot, forcing the chopper to rise as fast as possible.
On the ground, soldiers scrambled in full retreat.
Seeing the plan in motion, Fury's heart sank.
The situation reminded him of the World Security Council during the Battle of New York.
They too had launched a nuclear missile, hoping to wipe out both aliens and heroes in one strike.
The difference was, Stark's technology rivaled the military's. Back then, he had been able to intercept.
But now—
"Damn it!"
Stark swore suddenly, eyes darting toward the incoming missile's trail.
"What is it?" Banner asked, baffled.
Abomination was dead.
So why did Stark look even more horrified now?