Those who stood in his way were meant to be crushed.
BOOM—!
Abomination suddenly paused.
A thunderous impact echoed behind him.
He turned.
The asphalt had collapsed into a crater.
From within it, a massive green hand rose slowly from the debris.
Then another.
Concrete cracked.
Dust rolled outward.
And the Hulk pulled himself from the crater.
Abomination's eyes lit up with savage delight.
"Hulk! Hahaha! You finally came! HULK!!"
He charged forward like a battering ram.
Hulk answered with a roar and charged to meet him.
BOOM!!!
The collision shook the street.
Shockwaves shattered windows for half a block.
Hulk was hurled backward, skidding across the asphalt.
The suppressant Banner had injected earlier still lingered in his system, dampening the Hulk's full strength.
Abomination noticed immediately.
His grin widened.
He lunged forward and began hammering Hulk with brutal, disciplined strikes — the movements of a trained soldier amplified by monstrous strength.
Each blow cratered pavement.
Each impact echoed like artillery.
But Hulk was not defenseless.
With a roar, he drove a kick into Abomination's torso, sending the creature sliding backward through a line of parked cars.
Hulk grabbed a vehicle and hurled it.
Abomination twisted aside with predatory agility.
The car exploded behind him.
Then the two titans collided again.
Fists slammed into flesh like wrecking balls.
Concrete pulverized beneath their feet.
Steel twisted and snapped.
This was no longer a fight.
It was a collision of living weapons.
Hulk took several heavy blows in succession.
His breathing deepened.
Muscles swelled.
Then he roared.
ROAR—!!!
The sound rolled like thunder between buildings.
Gamma energy surged.
The Hulk's strength rose with his anger — as it always did.
He surged forward and smashed Abomination into the pavement, collapsing a section of roadway.
Abomination burst from the rubble, laughing.
"YES! That's it! Stronger! STRONGER!"
They clashed again — now evenly matched.
The suppressant's influence was fading.
Hulk was returning to full strength.
Nearby Rooftop
Karl barely glanced at the ongoing battle.
That fight would not end quickly.
Instead, he lifted into the air using telekinesis and flew toward the alley where Spider-Woman had fallen.
He found her moments later.
She lay crumpled against the wall.
Blood pooled beneath her.
Her breathing was shallow.
Karl shook his head.
She had taken two direct hits from Abomination.
Even enhanced physiology could not absorb that level of trauma.
He knelt and removed her mask.
A young face.
Blonde hair.
Delicate features despite the grime and blood.
Gwen Stacy.
Karl exhaled slowly.
"If you're going to be a hero… at least think about your parents."
He lifted her carefully.
He had no intention of wasting a Senzu Bean.
They were life-saving items.
He had only three.
One might go to Tony someday.
Gwen… was not family.
He would stabilize her and decide later.
Battlefield
By the time Karl returned, the fight had shifted several blocks.
Hulk was beginning to lose ground again.
Ross, observing from the helicopter, ordered immediate fire support against Abomination.
Missile pods ignited.
Machine guns roared.
Abomination leapt upward, grabbed the helicopter's landing strut, and swung violently.
At that exact moment—
Hulk seized Abomination from behind.
The added weight dragged the aircraft downward.
All three crashed into the street.
The helicopter skidded sideways, leaking fuel.
Inside, Ross and Betty struggled to free themselves.
Abomination kicked Hulk away and climbed atop the wreckage.
He ignored Ross completely.
Authority meant nothing to him now.
Only strength.
Only dominance.
Hulk rose again with a thunderous roar.
He seized a heavy iron chain from nearby construction debris and swung it like a flail.
The chain wrapped around Abomination.
For a moment.
Then Abomination grabbed the opposite end and surged forward, looping it around Hulk's throat.
He began strangling him.
Hulk's eyes flashed green with rising fury.
Karl's gaze sharpened.
Now.
The Hulk's gamma output was peaking.
A Shadow Ninja emerged silently from Hulk's shadow and collected blood from a torn wound along his shoulder, filling a reinforced test vial.
The instant the sample was secured, the ninja vanished back into shadow.
Hulk exploded with strength.
He snapped the chain and hurled Abomination across the street.
Flames from the crashed helicopter spread rapidly as fuel ignited.
Hulk turned.
He stepped forward.
Then clapped his massive hands together behind him.
WHUMP—!
The resulting shockwave blasted outward, snuffing the flames and scattering burning debris.
Karl's lips twitched.
Physics had just surrendered.
Hulk grabbed the chain again and charged.
This time he wrapped it around Abomination's throat and pulled tight.
The two crashed through storefronts and shattered pillars.
Minutes passed.
Abomination's resistance slowed.
His struggles weakened.
Finally, Hulk released him.
Abomination collapsed to one knee.
Hulk seized a jagged steel beam from the wreckage.
With a roar—
He drove it straight through Abomination's chest.
CRUNCH—
The steel pierced through his torso.
Yellow blood spilled across the pavement.
Abomination convulsed once.
Twice.
Then fell still.
Silence fell over the ruined street.
Hulk stood breathing heavily.
Civilians watched from a distance.
Police sirens echoed.
Hulk turned toward Betty and Ross.
Then, with a final look at the city…
He leapt away into the night.
Karl allowed the Shadow Ninja to remain hidden within Banner's shadow.
He already knew Banner's eventual destination.
British Columbia.
Bellacula.
After the battlefield emptied, Karl lifted the unconscious Spider-Woman into his arms and disappeared into shadow.
He did not take her to a hospital.
He did not take her home.
Instead—
he returned to his manor.
Perhaps curiosity motivated him.
Perhaps something else.
Because Gwen Stacy, still in her battle-torn spider suit…
was a sight few men could ignore.
As he stepped inside, a familiar voice sounded behind him.
"Oh shit… isn't that the girl who was fighting the yellow monster earlier? How did she end up in your hands?"
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