The helicarrier shimmered into stealth mode.
This wasn't the simple radar-jamming kind — it was full invisibility. Even the naked eye couldn't track it, like a metal ghost haunting the clouds. The only flaw? The engines roared loud enough to shake mountains. That's why the carrier never flew low. But Abomination didn't care. He wanted it lower — right above the kill zone.
Maria Hill, expression blank under mind control, obeyed the hateful order and began the descent.
Below, the Hulk plummeted through the sky like a green meteor, roaring as the wind tore past him.
He flailed his arms as if trying to swim through the air. The Hulk ruled the ground — not the heavens. And gravity didn't negotiate.
BOOM!
He smashed through a three-story fisherman's house, crushing concrete floors until his massive body crashed into the basement. Dust and debris filled the air. When the rumbling stopped, the monster was gone — and in his place, Bruce Banner lay unconscious, bloodied, and human again.
Minutes later, the carrier hovered twenty meters above the wreckage.
Abomination leaned over the deck railing, eyes gleaming with malice. "I'll check the body myself."
He leapt off the edge. Midair, his body twisted and swelled — bones cracking, muscles mutating until the creature of rage hit the rooftop with a thunderous impact.
He peered through the crater the Hulk had made. The pit was deep, but empty.
No green corpse. No movement.
His lip curled. "You think you can hide from me?"
Abomination dropped into the crater, scanning every shadow. Nothing. The air was thick with smoke and the smell of scorched cement.
Banner was gone.
Grinding his teeth, Abomination slammed his communicator. "Report! Did the radar pick him up?!"
"Negative," came Maria's monotone reply. "No life signs detected."
"What?! That's impossible!" Abomination bellowed. "You told me this area's covered! Even if he burrowed ten meters underground, radar should've picked him up!"
"I'm sure of the readings," Maria said calmly. "If he's not showing, there's only one explanation — he vanished."
Abomination froze. "...Vanished?"
"Yes. Out of thin air."
He stared at her transmission feed. Maria was mind-controlled — she couldn't lie. That only made it worse. With a furious roar, Abomination launched himself back onto the deck, shaking the carrier upon landing.
"Then drop a high-heat missile," he growled. "Now."
Maria hesitated. "Are you sure—"
"DO IT, OR YOU'RE NEXT!"
She swallowed hard, lifted the carrier to a safe height, and launched a high-heat missile down at the crater.
BOOM!
The detonation was blinding — a sphere of light and heat so intense it fried the radar and knocked out the stealth systems. The night turned to day for three seconds straight.
The explosion carved a crater hundreds of meters wide. The ground turned molten, and everything — stone, soil, memory — vaporized into dust.
When the light faded, Abomination smirked. "Heh. Even if you crawled underground, you're ash now."
He ordered the carrier to pull back, satisfied that the Hulk was finally gone.
Time passed.
A soft groan broke the silence somewhere far from the blast zone.
Banner opened his eyes, coughing, disoriented. He was lying beside a lake, the smell of wet earth around him.
He remembered the fall — the impact — then darkness. Yet here he was, alive. The only question was how.
Then he saw him — a young man standing nearby, wind tugging at his silver hair. Banner blinked, squinting. Before he could say a word, the figure vanished — and appeared right in front of him.
"...Quicksilver," Banner muttered, instantly tensing.
Pietro Maximoff — Magneto's son. Member of the Mutant Brotherhood. And a known enemy of the Avengers.
Banner's instinct screamed danger, but logic followed: if Quicksilver wanted him dead, he would've done it while he was unconscious.
"How're you holding up?" Pietro asked casually, hands in his pockets.
Banner frowned. "Why'd you save me?"
Quicksilver shrugged. "Curiosity. I saw you fall from the sky — then saw SHIELD's jets trying to vaporize you. Figured there's a story worth hearing."
"It's none of your business."
"Oh, come on," Pietro grinned. "You could at least say thanks."
"Your father's Magneto," Banner snapped. "I'd rather choke on gravel than owe you anything."
He staggered to his feet, brushing off dirt. "Next time we meet, if you're the one on the ground, maybe I'll return the favor."
Pietro smirked. "Fair trade, then. But before you go—"
He leaned in, eyes sharp now. "I need a favor too. I'm looking for my sister… Wanda. She's gone missing."
Banner's expression hardened. "...Wanda Maximoff?"
Pietro nodded. "Yeah. And something tells me SHIELD's involved."