[Third person POV]
As the Earth crumbled beneath them, tearing apart in violent fissures, only two figures remained suspended above the chaos—Aria and The Leader.
The area was covered in smoke and dust, Aria's lenses flashed with a vivid purple light as she floated gracefully above the carnage. She slowly extended her arms outward, her gem pulsing with radiant power. Instantly, the debris and rubble that once danced wildly in the air came to a sudden halt, frozen in place, outlined in a shimmering aura of violet energy.
With a sharp wave of her hand, the suspended rubble obeyed her command. Boulders, fractured metal, and massive chunks of Earth launched toward The Leader like a barrage of meteors.
The Leader maneuvered deftly in his levitating chair, weaving between the flying wreckage. His expression remained calm, smug even, as chunks of earth collided with the glowing dome of his psychic force field. One particularly large slab struck with enough force to send him spiraling back through the air. But he quickly regained control, straightening his posture and resetting the stabilizers on his chair.
He tapped a button on his armrest, and hidden compartments on the chair opened, revealing twin turrets. With a mechanical whir, they locked onto Aria. Explosive plasma rounds burst from the barrels in rapid succession, illuminating the sky with neon green flashes as they tore through the air, vaporizing rubble in their path.
Aria twisted her body midair, corkscrewing and flipping through the chaos with balletic grace. Her arms outstretched, she dodged between the blasts, each narrowly missing her by mere inches. The glow of her gem intensified.
She retaliated.
From her gem, a concentrated beam of violet light shot forth, lancing toward The Leader. The energy beam slammed into his force-field, searing across its surface and forcing him to retreat further back. She sustained the blast, pouring more power into it until faint cracks began to spread across the shield's surface like fractured glass.
The Leader grimaced, sweat beading down his temple as he raised a trembling hand to his forehead, focusing with all his mental might. The cracks began to mend, threads of psychic energy weaving themselves through the force-field like a repair algorithm. But even as he reinforced his defense, his other hand moved quickly.
With a swift gesture, a massive military tank—half-buried in the rubble—lifted off the ground and came hurtling through the air toward Aria.
She immediately ceased her beam, the gem's light dimming. With a blur of motion, she phased through the tank's hull effortlessly. Emerging from the other side, she gripped its long barrel and twisted in the air, using her flight momentum to spin like a whirlwind.
"I'm a little too old to be playing with toys," Aria said with smirking defiance. "Here—you can have it back!"
She hurled the tank with tremendous force. It spun like a disc, whistling through the air. The Leader reacted quickly, his turrets firing at full capacity, disintegrating the tank in a thunderous explosion that enveloped him in a fiery cloud.
For a moment, everything was silent—only the roar of flames and the crackle of burning debris echoed in the distance.
Then Aria's sensors picked up movement—not from The Leader, but from the environment around him. Her head snapped up, scanning rapidly.
Her eyes widened.
Missiles. Rockets. Plasma shells. Swarms of explosives emerged from camouflaged compartments embedded in the surrounding terrain and in the distant hills. A complete 360-degree assault had been launched, boxing her in like a death trap.
"Wow…" Aria muttered.
"Frightened now?!" The Leader's voice rang out triumphantly through the smoke. "Well, too bad! This is what happens when one dares oppose The Leader!!"
Aria remained still for a moment, hovering amidst the deadly arsenal pointed at her from every direction. Then she let out a small sigh.
"No, not that," she said with calm amusement. "I'm just surprised that you're that stupid—to think this would be enough to stop me."
Her gem flared again, brighter than ever, casting harsh purple light across the smoke-choked sky. She closed her eyes, tuning out the world around her, focusing inward. When she opened them again, her irises glowed with raw power.
A pulse of energy erupted from her body in a violent shockwave.
The surrounding projectiles didn't stand a chance.
One by one, they detonated in a chain reaction of brilliant explosions. The sky lit up like a fireworks display as Aria soared forward, her form emerging from the inferno unscathed. Her eyes blazed with light, her silhouette cutting through smoke and flames.
She stopped just meters in front of The Leader, who now hovered back defensively, the arrogance gone from his face.
"My father taught me a lot about humility," Aria said, her voice low and steady. "But for you, I think I'll make an exception and allow myself to be a little arrogant."
She tilted her head slightly, her expression unreadable beneath her sleek helmet. "Give it up, Brainzilla. The whole 'Leader' shtick? It ends today."
The Leader trembled. "What… What exactly are you?! I have no data on your existence! You couldn't have just appeared! That's impossible!"
A slow, confident smile crept onto Aria's lips beneath her mask.
"Get this through your oversized skull, because I'm only going to say it once," she said. "My name is Arachnid. Once an artificial Intelligence, built by one of the greatest minds this world has ever known. Now a superhero android—with a mind of her own—and the power to bring tyrants like you to justice."
With a sharp clank, four psionic spider-like limbs burst from her back, glowing with razor-sharp energy as they extended menacingly into the air.
"And you," she declared, pointing at The Leader, "have just made yourself a priority target. Prepare to face the consequences of your actions, villain."
Internally, Aria beamed. 'Naaaailed it~' she thought smugly, absolutely satisfied with her dramatic entrance and monologue.
The Leader, however, was far from amused. His face twisted in rage, veins pulsing along his forehead, eyes wide with fury. He looked like he was about to explode.
"I've said enough," Aria snapped. "Now I'm putting an end to this!"
Without another word, she rocketed forward. Her fist slammed against The Leader's shield. It shattered on contact with a thunderous crack, sending him hurtling through the sky until he crashed into the remains of a ruined military base in the distance, debris erupting from the impact like a localized earthquake.
Aria hovered silently for a moment, peering down. She could feel the tremors below—the war still raging beneath the Earth's broken surface.
'The sooner I finish this, the sooner I can put an end to all of this,' she thought. 'Daddy's already had a long day… and as a filial daughter, I'll make sure he gets the rest he deserves.'
With her eyes set on the ruins in the distance, Aria soared ahead at full speed, ready to end the battle—and the threat of The Leader—once and for all.
…
Meanwhile, Peter was locked in a brutal clash with the Hulk.
"I really don't want to hurt you—or Bruce—so snap out of it!!" Peter shouted as he launched a flurry of lightning-fast punches, each one slamming into the Hulk's torso and face. The green giant barely flinched at first, but faint bruising began to form across his thick skin, dark green blotches where Peter's superhuman fists struck home.
The Hulk responded with a thunderous roar, the kind that sent tremors through the cavernous battlefield. He tore a molten slab of ground from beneath his feet and hurled it at the wall behind Peter, where the teen hero had stood just a heartbeat before.
Peter reappeared behind him, narrowly dodging the impact, but the Hulk was relentless. He spun on his heel and threw a wide, earth-shattering punch.
Peter met it head-on, catching the massive green fist in his hands. A shockwave of kinetic energy exploded outward from the impact, sending debris, smoke, and molten rock flying in all directions.
The air rippled from the force.
Peter's face twisted into a grimace as he strained to hold his ground. The Hulk snarled, their foreheads nearly touching, and let out another roar—hot breath and spittle spraying across Peter's face.
"You know what," Peter growled, "I'm done and tired with this crap."
To everyone's shock, Peter deactivated his suit. The suit retracted from his body, revealing his bare skin to the sweltering heat of the battlefield. The moment it disappeared, the oppressive heat hit him like a wave, causing him to flinch slightly—but he endured it.
"What are you doing?!" came the mental cries of everyone watching.
"Their minds are being controlled," Peter responded through the psychic link. "They won't remember any of this."
He turned his full attention back to the Hulk, his expression serious, his voice low but steady.
"I don't know if you can understand me… but I'm tired of fighting. I especially don't want to fight you. I fought enough of my friends for one day today, I'm honestly sick of it."
But the Hulk wasn't listening.
With a roar of fury, the green behemoth grabbed Peter by the torso and slammed him into the wall with bone-jarring force. Cracks spiderwebbed across the rock behind him, and Peter let out a muffled grunt as blood began to drip from a cut on his forehead.
"Urghhh!!"
The Hulk's grip tightened, squeezing Peter like a hydraulic press.
"Peter!!" Harry shouted from a distance. His hands glowed with chi as he punched She-Hulk into the ground, desperate to end his fight and help his friend.
"Focus on your battles!" Peter shouted back, voice strained. "I'll handle mine!!"
Peter leaned forward despite the pressure and stared into Hulk's wild, savage eyes.
"Aren't you supposed to be the strongest there is?!" Peter barked. "Then why the hell are you letting him control you?! Fight back already! You're not just some mindless brute that smashes things. You're more than that. You're the Hulk. The Incredible Hulk! So stop letting some green-skinned minion tell you what to do!"
---
Inside Hulk's mind…
The mental scape was a twisted, green-lit prison. Hulk and Bruce stood side by side, wrapped in thick, glowing chains of psionic energy, their movements restrained, their minds suppressed.
The Hulk stood still, his head hung low, long hair hiding his face.
But then… a twitch.
His head lifted slightly. His radioactive green eyes flared with life. His jaw clenched tight.
Muscles bulged.
"ARRRGHHHHHHHHH!!!"
The Hulk let out a guttural, defiant roar that shook the very fabric of his mental prison. He flexed his massive arms—
SNAP!!
The chains shattered into pieces, flying through the void like shrapnel.
---
Back in reality, the Hulk roared again.
"ROOOOAAAAAARRR!!!" he bellowed, still holding Peter against the wall.
He pulled his arm back, winding up a strike.
Peter didn't move.
His eyes stayed calm, even as the massive green fist came flying toward him with unstoppable force.
The wall behind Peter exploded with cracks, which spiderwebbed out to the ceiling. Chunks of stone and metal fell, crashing down around them, some splashing into the pools of lava that littered the underground battlefield.
His fist was embedded to the wall just inches from Peter's face, trembling.
His breathing was heavy. Gruff. Unsteady.
Peter tilted his head up and smiled.
"There you are," he said softly. "Nice to have you back, big guy. I was worried there for a sec."
The Hulk's eyes glistened with a mixture of guilt and sorrow.
"Hulk… Hulk hurt his friend…" he murmured. "Hulk is a monster… Only monsters hurt their friends… Peter is Hulk's best friend… Hulk is the worst kind of monster."
Peter chuckled gently. "Aw, come on, you're breaking my heart here. Let's be real here—you couldn't have laid a finger on me unless I let you."
He grinned cockily as the Hulk gently set him down on the ground.
"And besides, it wasn't your fault," Peter continued, wiping blood from his brow. "You were being controlled. That wasn't you."
The Hulk took a slow step back, shame still etched on his face—until it morphed into fury.
"You're right… It's not Hulk's fault… It's The Leader's fault!"
His fists clenched. His muscles tensed.
"Hulk only hurt his friend because of him!"
He reared back his head.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!"
The roar shook the entire underground complex. Tremors tore through the walls. Steam hissed. Lava splashed. The ground cracked beneath them.
"HULK WILL SMASH THE LITTLE MAN!! LITTLE MAN WILL PAY FOR MAKING HULK HURT HIS FRIEND!!!"
With explosive force, the Hulk crouched and launched himself upward. His fingers dug into the jagged walls as he climbed with thunderous leaps—one jump, two jumps, then a final bound that sent him crashing through the rock above.
He vanished into the darkness, roaring all the way to the surface.
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