Betty wrapped Bruce in a tight hug the moment he sat down, her grip almost desperate. "I'm so glad you came back safely," she breathed against his shoulder.
She pulled back, her hands still clutching his arms as she searched his face. "You didn't see the other battles. The noise, Bruce. Tony... he just carpet-bombed people with missiles. The whole forest was exploding. It was terrifying."
Banner's eyes widened. The name hit him. "Iron Man? Tony Stark is a contestant?"
"Yes," Betty confirmed. "The same Tony Stark who stopped you at the university."
Banner processed this, his mind racing. He hadn't encountered Tony during his brief, frantic time on the island, but he'd seen the other three contestants. Except for the woman who'd arrived last, the one with impossible superhuman abilities, the other two had seemed unremarkable.
A strange flicker of relief passed through him. If Tony collected all the Dragon Balls, at least he probably wouldn't make a truly catastrophic wish.
"So it's him." He let out a slow breath. "He's likely to win the finals, then."
Betty nodded, her expression grim. "He's the favorite. Selene, the other finalist, already lost to Tony once today."
Banner processed that, the information settling like a weight. The tournament was a dead end. He had to move to the next plan. "Where's the backstage area? I need to use a computer."
Betty pointed toward a section of the viewing platform where staff members in uniform moved frequently. "That should be it. Want me to come with you?"
Banner looked where she'd indicated. "Wait here. I'll be quick."
Betty settled into her seat, watching him go. Banner navigated through the small crowd, slipping into the staff area. It buzzed with activity, the low hum of electronics and quiet, urgent voices. Multiple people coordinated equipment, managed feeds, and monitored systems. Banner spotted several idle workstations.
He approached a staff member. "Excuse me, I need to send an email. Is it alright if I use one of these computers?"
The staff member glanced up, recognized him as one of the contestants, and nodded. "There's a spare terminal over there you can use."
"Thank you."
Banner sat at the workstation. The chair was standard office-grade. He slid his hand into his pocket, retrieved the small USB drive, and inserted it into the terminal. He kept his movements small, his body angled slightly to shield the screen. He opened his encrypted email client and composed a brief message to Mr. Blue.
"Mr. Blue, all the data from the university is attached. Time we met in person."
He hit send, watched the confirmation, and then properly ejected the drive. He pocketed it and walked back to Betty, blending back into the spectator area.
What Banner didn't know was that in a secure facility hundreds of miles away, an algorithm flagged his email. S.H.I.E.L.D's cyber division maintained constant surveillance for specific keywords. "Mr. Blue" and "Mr. Green" triggered immediate, high-priority alerts. Analysts traced the recipient's IP address to Grayburn College and identified Dr. Samuel Stern in the Department of Cell Biology within minutes.
Betty held up her phone, the screen showing them in selfie mode, as soon as Banner sat down. The gesture felt jarringly normal. "Come on, look at the camera and smile."
Banner managed a tight, thin-lipped smile. Betty captured their photo.
She lowered the phone, her expression serious again. "Bruce, you didn't make the finals. That means you failed to get what you wanted." She paused. "What's your plan now?"
Banner met her eyes, his own gaze steady. "After the tournament, the organizers will transport us out. I need to go to New York to meet someone."
"An online friend of mine," he continued. "Mr. Blue. He's extremely talented in cellular research. Maybe he has a solution for the Hulk. The real solution."
Betty didn't hesitate. She squeezed his hand. "I'm going with you." It wasn't a question.
Compared to Banner's quiet acceptance, Tony's relaxed confidence, and Selene's strategic planning, the Xu siblings were despondent. They sat in the Golden Daggers section, surrounded by their members, but isolated in their failure.
The other Golden Daggers members stood around them awkwardly, not knowing how to comfort their boss. The silence was heavy. They knew Xialing had paid an enormous price just for the tournament ticket. This outcome clearly wasn't what she'd hoped for.
Shang Chi finally broke the silence, his voice low. "Xialing, what do we do next?"
Xialing stared at the arena floor, her jaw tight. "Prepare for the next Dragon Ball tournament," she said, her voice flat. "Or collect them all before the competition even begins."
Shang Chi looked up, surprised. "Wait, you're saying the Dragon Balls will... appear again?"
Xialing gave him an exasperated look. "Of course they will. I was the holder of a Dragon Ball from the previous generation, not this one. It said so in my introduction."
"The last person to make a wish was John Wick. He took the Dragon Ball from me. I used the token he left behind to get my ticket this time."
She held up a hand, almost as if counting for herself. "The interval between tournaments was just over a year. Maybe exactly a year. That means after this wish is made, the Dragon Balls will scatter and reappear in about a year, maximum. So for the next year, we focus on collecting the Dragon Balls ourselves and preparing for battle."
Shang Chi processed her explanation. His gaze drifted across the stands, landing on Tony's armor, then on Selene's vampire contingent. "The enemies this time were... incredibly powerful," he said, his voice full of doubt. "Do you really think we have any chance next time?"
The question hung in the air. Xialing didn't answer immediately.
She remembered the previous generation's collection. It had been easiest. John Wick hadn't encountered any superhuman opponents. If she'd only known the Dragon Balls' true function back then, she could have collected them all herself. But this tournament... this one had vampires, Iron Man, and that enormous green monster. Xialing couldn't imagine who might compete next time. Would aliens appear? Gods?
She thought carefully before responding, her voice low and certain. "We find Father. With his strength, none of these contestants would be a match for him."
Shang Chi recoiled as if she'd struck him. "No," he said, his voice sharp. "Absolutely not."
"If he learns about the Dragon Balls, he won't participate in any tournament honestly. He'll just... he'll create chaos on a massive scale."
Shang Chi's voice dropped, haunted. "You have no idea what missions he assigned me during training. You don't know what he's capable of. He's the biggest danger. Smith Doyle and this whole 'Fraternity' couldn't handle the situation if Father got involved."
Shang Chi had developed an instinctive, visceral resistance to their father. Despite their blood relationship, after their mother's death, he'd felt no paternal love. Only brutal, relentless training.
Xialing looked at her brother, her expression hardening into unconcealed contempt.
"Isn't it just killing people? Is that all?"
Her voice turned cold, sharp as ice. "Is that why you ran away and abandoned your sister? Because you were afraid to kill?"
"Shang-Chi, I really look down on you."
The words hit him harder than Selene's kick. Shang Chi flinched, his gaze dropping to the floor. He didn't defend himself. He couldn't.
Because she was right.