In Marvel With Unique Skill Great Sage (MCU) [114]

"ROOOOAAAAR—"

The sound wave was so powerful it created a huge gust of wind. The invisible barrier of oxygen-depleted air created by the Great Sage began to waver and shake violently. Fortunately, the Great Sage quickly used more magicules to stabilize the air fluctuations.

Just when Lemu thought his plan was about to succeed, the Abomination suddenly went berserk. Panicked and desperate, he started running wildly, making several huge leaps that carried him completely out of the oxygen-depleted zone Lemu had created.

Damn it! So close! Lemu thought, frustrated. Almost had him!

….

General Ross, along with his daughter Betty Ross and the now-captured Bruce Banner, had scrambled onto a military helicopter as soon as the Abomination disaster began to unfold.

But as they watched the live video feed from the soldiers on the front lines, seeing the Abomination tear through the city, smashing through buildings and scattering crowds, a heavy, oppressive silence fell over everyone in the helicopter. The air was thick with tension and unspoken fear.

"You have to let me go," Bruce Banner said suddenly, his voice firm and serious. He looked directly at General Ross. His hands were still cuffed, but his fists were clenched tight.

Betty, his girlfriend, grabbed Banner's arm tightly, her face pale with fear and disbelief. "Bruce, what are you saying? You think you can stop him?"

Banner turned his head, his eyes meeting hers. He spoke each word slowly and deliberately. "Maybe... maybe I can usehim!"

Use the Hulk... to fight the Abomination.

Watching his daughter and his prisoner having this intense, desperate exchange, General Ross, already stressed and on edge, felt like he was about to lose his mind.

The white-haired old General glared fiercely at Banner. "And what if you can't?!" he barked.

Banner, despite his usually mild, scholarly appearance, met Ross's gaze without flinching. His eyes held a mixture of pleading, quiet accusation, and something else, something harder to define.

"We created this thing, General," Banner said, his voice low but firm. "Me... and you! I'm begging you, let me try."

Perhaps it was a sense of responsibility in his eyes, or maybe a desire for atonement.

"Please... open the rear ramp."

At this point, Banner had already been injected with Dr. Sterns' supposed antidote. Could he even transform into the Hulk anymore? He honestly had no idea. There was no guarantee at all.

But the image of the Abomination rampaging like a demon, killing indiscriminately, kept flashing through his mind. He knew, with absolute certainty, that he couldn't just stand by and do nothing.

Some things... even when you know the chances of success are tiny, you just have to take the gamble...

Besides himself, another monster, who else could possibly stand a chance against that monster?

"Bruce! Please! Don't jump!" Betty cried, her voice choked with sobs. "You don't even know if you can still change! You could die!"

Her desperate pleas and sobs tore at his heart. He felt a wave of guilt, sorrow, and self-reproach. All he could manage to say was a quiet, heartfelt, "I'm sorry."

Banner looked deeply into her eyes, then leaned in and kissed her lips, a kiss that seemed to hold all his regret and unspoken apologies.

Then, he leaned back and fell out of the open helicopter ramp, his fingers slipping from her desperate grasp.

….

A dark figure, along with a few glistening teardrops, plummeted from the sky. Then, with a sickening impact, the figure smashed onto the hard ground below, shattering into... well, not quite pieces.

Or at least, that's how it looked.

Lemu, watching the falling figure from his vantage point, winced, his face scrunching up in sympathetic pain. He couldn't help but imagine himself falling from that height, then splat turning into a puddle of goo on the pavement.

Bruce Banner is one tough, incredibly brave guy, Lemu thought with a shake of his head. No wonder a being like the Hulk could be born from someone like him.

Well, okay then. Now that the Hulk is on his way to fight the Abomination, everything should be fine, right?

Probably?

The Armor moved a little closer. The deep crater Banner had made when he hit the ground was still completely silent. No movement at all.

Lemu pried a loose brick from a nearby damaged wall. He tossed it experimentally into the large pit.

The brick fell in with a soft thud...

"ROOOOAAAAR—"

With an earth-shattering, furious roar, a massive, green-skinned giant leaped out of the hole in the ground.

It whipped its head around, its huge, bronze-bell-sized eyes glaring fiercely at the iron monster The Armor hovering silently in the air in front of it. The Hulk looked like he was about to pounce and get revenge for that brick to the head...

"Uh, hi there..." Lemu said, his voice sounding a little nervous through the armor's speakers. "Hey, uh, I'm just passing through... Abomination's that way!"

He waved a hand awkwardly, then quickly pointed off to the right with a sharp smack of his armored palm against his other hand.

The last thing Lemu wanted was to get into a fight with this particular giant beast.

The Hulk glared at The Armor for another long second, huffing and puffing heavily. Then, with a powerful push from his legs, he launched himself into another incredible leap. BOOM! He landed with enough force to create anotherdeep crater in the pavement, then bounded off in the direction Lemu had pointed.

Meanwhile, the Abomination was standing dazed in the middle of the road.

After nearly suffocating when Lemu had removed the oxygen around him, he'd gone on a wild, panicked run. He hadn't gone far before he suddenly felt normal again.

He looked down at his own massive, monstrous hands, then touched his grotesque face. A wave of unease and fear washed over him. Is something wrong with my body? he wondered frantically. Did the transformation fail somehow? Is it unstable?

A fresh surge of rage welled up inside him. The Abomination spun around, intending to go find that little scientist, Samuel Sterns, and demand some answers. He conveniently forgot that he was the one who had forced Sterns to inject him with the Hulk's blood in the first place.

Just then, the savage roar of another huge beast echoed suddenly from behind him. Caught completely off guard, the Abomination was slammed from the side by the charging Hulk, who hit him with the full force of his running momentum. The punch sent the Abomination flying through the air.

Tumbling end over end, the Abomination carved a long, deep trench in the road as he skidded to a halt.

He staggered to his feet, but when he saw the Hulk, his eyes lit up with a wild, almost joyful excitement. He let out a guttural, furious roar of his own!

"COME ON! BRING IT ON!" he bellowed.