[Third person POV]
Peter shot out two weblines toward the raging Hulk, anchoring them firmly to the brute's broad chest before yanking with all his enhanced strength.
"RAAAAHH!!" the Hulk bellowed, welcoming the pull. He let himself be drawn forward, massive fists cocked and ready. With a thunderous slam, he brought both arms down toward Peter's position like twin wrecking balls. The impact split the earth beneath them, cracks racing across the ground as dust and debris exploded into the air.
But when the dust settled and Hulk lifted his fists with a growl, Peter was nowhere in sight.
"Looking for someone?" Peter called from above, crouched comfortably on the Hulk's massive shoulders. He shaded his eyes with a hand as if squinting into the distance, playfully scanning the ground below. "Did you get him? Because I think you missed."
Hulk snarled, twisting his head to glare at the annoying insect perched on him. He reached back with one massive hand, intent on grabbing Peter.
But Spider-Man was already in motion, flipping gracefully off his shoulders and landing nimbly behind him. He fired a webline at the Hulk's shoulder, sticking one of the green giant's hands in place. Then, with flawless speed and coordination, Peter vaulted to the other side, shooting another line and yanking the second hand toward his other shoulder, momentarily binding them together.
As plasma bullets whizzed past him from nearby Humanoids, Peter flipped, twisted, and dodged mid-air with dizzying agility. He spun upside down and, hanging in mid-air like a human turret, began firing a flurry of webshots straight at the Hulk's face and chest.
The Hulk staggered backwards from the sheer force of the barrage. His entire upper body was now blanketed in webbing, his arms awkwardly pinned. Peter landed effortlessly in front of him, striking a pose.
"Come on, Hulkie-poo," he quipped, "don't tell me you've forgotten your bestest, most lovable pal?"
Peter's body blurred into a streak of afterimages as he darted forward, unleashing rapid strikes at pressure points and joints. Each hit landed with speed and precision, but Hulk only grew angrier. Veins bulged across his neck and forehead, his eyes glowing an eerie, unnatural green as he let out a deep growl.
With a burst of strength and a primal roar, the Hulk flexed, and the tensile webbing exploded off his body like shredded tissue paper.
He lashed out with one titanic hand in a blur of speed, but Peter vaulted upward and to the side.
"You know what I heard helps with memory loss?" Peter asked mid-air, somersaulting. "A good ol' hit to the head!"
Using Hulk's own outstretched arm like a springboard, Peter launched a powerful spinning kick across Hulk's jaw. The gamma-powered titan grunted, his head snapping to the side from the impact—but only for a second. He turned back toward Peter, fury written all over his bloodied face, and threw both arms up, attempting to trap Peter in a crushing bear hug.
Peter dropped straight to the ground, letting gravity help him escape the attempted grapple. As Hulk looked down, confused by the absence, a portal shimmered to life right behind his his head.
"Surprise!" Peter grinned. With impeccable timing, he shot two webs to towards the portal which lead towards the ground, made to give him something to hook on to, reeled himself in, and launched a dual-footed uppercut kick directly into Hulk's chin. "And if one doesn't work I heard two is better than 1…"
The force was enough to snap Hulk's head back again, green blood spraying from his mouth as the portal vanished behind him.
Peter was already mid-air again, spinning like a drill, building momentum. "Well then—three's the lucky charm!"
With a cry, he brought his leg down in a devastating axe kick. The blow landed squarely on the Hulk's head, driving him face-first into the soaked battlefield below with a thunderous boom. The ground shook, water splashed in every direction, and a small crater formed where Hulk's face impacted.
Landing in a crouch beside the downed behemoth, Peter peered cautiously at him. "Remember me yet, best buddy?" he asked, voice hopeful as he spread his arms in a welcoming hug "How about we just resolve this with a big ol' hug and forget everything, yeah?"
At first, there was no response—only the sound of distant plasma fire and the soft trickle of rain.
Then, the Hulk's enormous hand twitched.
Slowly, he planted a massive palm into the ground, the sheer weight of it leaving a deep impression in the mud. The second hand followed, fingers digging into the earth. Green gamma radiation began to seep out from his pores like steam, the energy thick and volatile.
His head rose slowly. Blood dripped from his nose and mouth. His face was twisted into pure, unfiltered rage. The glowing green of his eyes shrank into tiny, menacing pinpricks, clearly still not himself.
Peter's eyes widened behind the mask.
"…Heh… haha…" he chuckled awkwardly, lowering his arms in surrender. "Uh… please be gentle?"
Around them, streaks of fire arced through the air while towering pillars of ice burst from the ground like jagged spears, which Gwen used as points to swing by. Gwen and Lizzy were locked in a dizzying aerial dance, circling the rampaging Red Hulk as they coordinated their attacks with seamless precision. They launched him back and forth between their elements—ice and fire—while evading the relentless volleys of plasma blasts fired by the Humanoids swarming the battlefield.
The surprising standout in the chaos was Lizzy.
Ever since their harrowing battle against Ultron, and the desperate moment she'd helped Bruce transform back into the Hulk, Lizzy had come to understand just how vital—and potent—her powers truly were.
That moment had changed something in her. She'd realized her control over the Weak and Strong Nuclear Forces needed work. And from the start of summer, she'd dedicated herself to mastering that potential.
Now, her hands shimmered with radiant, glowing rings that pulsed like swirling atoms. Subatomic energy danced at her fingertips.
She raised a single hand toward the sky, and the water surrounding her seemed to freeze in time. Droplets floated midair like suspended beads of glass. With a single, fluid gesture, she pulled them inward, forming a compact sphere of swirling liquid. The water churned, the molecules shifting and reacting as Lizzy carefully manipulated them into a volatile chemical state—an unstable compound poised on the edge of detonation.
Steam hissed from the orb as the water began to break down into explosive gases, the molecular structure altering before their very eyes.
Simultaneously, Firestar turned her attention back to the Red Hulk, who had just burst free from Gwen's ice pillar, shattering it in a molten roar. The ground beneath him had already begun to glow and crack as his presence turned soil to magma, the grass incinerating underfoot.
But the flames didn't get far.
With a concentrated motion, Lizzy pulled the searing heat away from the Hulk's body. The inferno that had threatened to consume the area flowed toward her, spiraling around her limbs like a fiery ribbon before being drawn into the swirling orb of volatile energy in her grasp. She siphoned the fire like fuel, feeding it into her growing explosive core.
Ducking and weaving through the sky, she dodged plasma blasts from the Humanoids, her form a blur of speed and grace. All the while, her focus never wavered from the chemical reaction she was containing and compressing. She spun once in midair, her hands moving in intricate patterns, weaving layers of control around the core.
Then, she closed her eyes and brought her hands together.
The reaction compressed further, glowing brighter, tighter, almost to the size of a marble, before she slapped her hands together fully.
Her eyes snapped open—brilliant streams of fire erupted from her pupils, tracing jagged lines across her cheeks like warpaint.
With a defiant shout, Lizzy spread her arms wide. A moment later, a barrage of four-pointed, star-shaped energy bombs exploded outward in every direction like a blossoming nova.
She streaked through the battlefield like a jet fighter, weaving trails of brilliant starlight behind her. Each bomb she dropped shimmered with celestial light, scattering glimmering dust before detonating with thunderous force. It was as if she were painting the sky with controlled supernovas.
The Humanoids turned their heads skyward, raising their weapons—but it was too late.
The stardust ignited.
Blinding light consumed the air, followed by a symphony of explosions. One after another, the bombs detonated in cascading bursts of energy and flame, shockwaves rippling through the air and blasting the battlefield apart. Humanoids were torn to molten fragments, their armor melting under the sheer heat. They were designed to withstand high-impact kinetic force—but not this.
The heat overwhelmed them.
In the midst of the chaos, sirens blared throughout the military base, red warning lights flashing as the very earth shook beneath their feet. The battlefield had become a warzone of sound, heat, and color.
Gwen used the moment of destruction to her advantage.
With the Red Hulk staggered and exposed, she summoned a construct of solid ice—an enormous warhammer sculpted with elegant precision. She spun it expertly around her body, her feet gliding effortlessly across a slick sheet of ice she'd laid beneath her.
"Hope you're still conscious," Gwen muttered, before bringing the hammer down with a brutal swing.
The warhammer slammed into the Red Hulk's jaw, releasing a sub-zero shockwave that rippled out like a blast of arctic wind. Frost exploded from the impact, encasing the surrounding ground in rime.
But Gwen didn't stop.
She attacked again. And again. Blow after blow rained down with inhuman speed, each one cracking against Red Hulk's towering frame. With every strike, blood spattered from his mouth, steam rising where his molten skin met the freezing force of Gwen's wrath.
Finally, with a fierce cry, Gwen slid along the ice and spun in place, her hammer held high before she brought it crashing into the Hulk's torso. The force launched him across the field like a meteor, smashing through tree trunks and vanishing into the dense forest in the distance.
Gwen exhaled sharply and slung the massive hammer over her shoulder. Her chest heaved from exertion, but her eyes sparkled with a wild thrill.
She glanced toward Lizzy, who hovered in the sky above, surrounded by wisps of lingering starlight.
'She's getting stronger… stronger than any of us expected,' Gwen thought, a trace of unease worming its way into her mind. 'If we don't step it up soon, she might catch up leave us in the dust.'
But even as the thought crossed her mind, Gwen's lips curled into a grin—one she couldn't suppress.
Pride.
She wouldn't admit it aloud, but she was damn proud of Lizzy and how far she had come since they first began. Out of all of them she had been the one to show the most improvement.
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