"Abomination… one more time. Will you turn back?"
The monster didn't answer, but his body quivered. One black snake twisted in his stomach, another slithered into his kidney, and a third wriggled deep in his nasal cavity. His fists were clenched like steel—but the terror crawling through his veins was impossible to hide.
Ryuuto walked toward the Hulk. Just as he was about to signal the green titan back, a gunshot rang out.
A bullet screamed toward his head, and Ryuuto dodged it casually. He turned to see Maria Hill, still in her tight black uniform, aiming at him. Pale-faced and trembling, she fired again.
Ryuuto smirked. Maria Hill… the next Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. if memory serves. Cute, but predictable.
With a flick of his body, he appeared behind her. A gentle pat on her shoulder accompanied his words:
"Did you drop this?"
Maria turned slowly. Her eyes widened at the bullet lying harmless in Ryuuto's palm. She leaned back against the damaged console, shaken, yet still under Abomination's control. Even now, she considered Ryuuto an enemy—but for someone who could catch bullets like toys, ghosts didn't scare her.
Ryuuto placed the bullet in her hand.
"I know you dropped it, so I returned it. And yes, I know Abomination has control over you, so I won't harm you. But Miss Maria… if you ever fire at me of your own free will, I won't let you get away."
With that, he turned and left. Maria slumped to the ground, legs weak, heart racing. Even scarier when he smiles…
Ryuuto returned to Abomination. The monster's eyes widened at his approach.
"Your stamina's strong," Ryuuto said with a teasing tilt of his head, "but that just makes this more fun."
Three black snakes writhed inside Abomination—twisting through stomach, kidneys, and nasal passages. The sensation of terror and helplessness brought tears to his monstrous eyes.
"I… I surrender!"
Ryuuto snapped his fingers. The snakes slithered out, leaving the hulking figure shivering.
"If I get the scepter for you, can you promise not to kill me?"
"Row!" the monster groaned.
"You promise?" Ryuuto pressed.
"With witnesses all around? Fine."
And just like that, Abomination's massive body shifted back to human form. Fear replaced his anger.
Ryuuto moved to the safe. He squatted before it and used Abomination's iris to scan the lock. The safe clicked, swinging open. He retrieved the Mind Scepter, handing it over to the trembling former Abomination.
"Look at this," Ryuuto said, smiling, "after Loki's defeat, the scepter passed through Ant-Man—an unimportant little guy—and finally into your hands. Your confidence swelled so much that you thought you could kill me. Funny, isn't it? Not knowing your own limits."
"I'll keep my promise," the man stammered.
Ryuuto tapped Steve Rogers' chest with the scepter—not to control him, but to release the mind-control. Steve blinked, coming back to himself.
"Sorry! I was… controlled by Abomination!" he said.
Ryuuto didn't answer. He removed the Augmented Rock Technique from Steve and stepped back. Steve, regaining his strength, punched Debate (one of the agents) lightly—but Ryuuto held up a hand.
"Don't bully him. Abomination, you're coming with me. Plane leaves soon."
Without Ryuuto, Abomination might've fought Steve. But the monster, realizing survival depended on him, followed quietly.
On the flight runway, Ryuuto gestured.
"Wait—plane arriving soon."
He winked at the Hulk. Understanding, the green titan leapt in front of Abomination. Just as the former monster tried to transform again, Hulk grabbed him by the shoulders and, with one immense heave, split the body clean in two. The bloody remnants flew across the deck like trash.
"I intended to let him live," Ryuuto said with a faint smile, "but Hulk… doesn't agree."
Holding the scepter aloft, he called:
"Everyone from the aircraft carrier—back to me!"
Within ten minutes, all personnel were restored. Nick Fury clasped Ryuuto's hand, eyes shining.
"Finally! Last time you helped the Avengers in Australia, I wanted to meet you. Didn't expect it to be like this!"
Ryuuto smiled.
"Director Nick, I haven't forgotten your last threat—you said I'd be the world's most wanted criminal."
"Joke," Nick waved it off.
"I think you owe me," Ryuuto replied.
"Oh? What do you want?"
Ryuuto pointed deliberately toward the Tesseract.
"That."
....
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