Hero Association Online Part 8
Tony watched Peter hand Strange over into that woman's arms as if it were the most normal thing in the world.
And for a second, he didn't react.
Not because he didn't understand what he was seeing.
But because he understood it far too quickly.
"Peter," Tony said, his voice much colder now.
But Peter still didn't respond.
Connected to Spider Man's suit, Tony could see Peter's vital signs through JARVIS. There was nothing physically wrong with him, yet at the same time, everything about him was wrong. Even his breathing was unnaturally calm, as if his body was still moving, but he himself wasn't really there anymore.
Supergiant slowly stroked the unconscious Strange's hair while holding him in her arms. Her calm smile didn't disappear for even an instant.
"What fragile beings," she said softly. "A tiny door left open in the mind... and everything they believe themselves to be becomes irrelevant."
Tony clenched his teeth.
"Pietro."
"I know," Pietro replied, though his voice sounded far less playful than before.
The speedster disappeared in a silver flash, racing across the walls of the surrounding buildings straight toward where Peter and Supergiant were standing almost face to face.
In less than the blink of an eye, he reached Supergiant from behind, trying to pull Strange out of her arms before she could react.
But Peter moved first.
A web shot out and wrapped around Pietro's arm just as he was about to grab the sorcerer. Then Peter pulled so hard that Pietro was knocked off course and slammed into the side of a wrecked car.
"Ouch!" Pietro shouted as he rolled across the ground before immediately getting back to his feet. "Okay... that hurt a little," he added while trying to recover the breath the impact had knocked out of him. Though he tried to act like it hadn't hurt that much.
"He's being controlled," Tony said, raising both arms as several nanotech pieces spread across his shoulders, forming small cannons. "Try not to break anything important."
"I know, I know. I don't want his great master showing up later and beating the hell out of me because I beat the hell out of his disciple," Pietro said with a hint of disdain. But the way he looked at Peter carried no trace of humor, only genuine concern.
Something Supergiant noticed easily, making her smile just a little more.
"How touching," she said in an amused tone, though at the same time without much real interest, turning around to leave now that she had the sorcerer in her possession.
But before she could get very far, a savage roar shook several city blocks.
A second later, something enormous came hurtling from several streets away, smashing through buildings like a living bullet, covered in dust, alien blood, and chunks of concrete. Its massive body spun uncontrollably through the air before crashing into the building beside Supergiant.
It was Cull Obsidian.
One of his arms was bent at a disturbing angle, and every breath he took came with his own blood.
Then another gigantic figure came crashing down from the sky, holding Cull Obsidian's axe in one hand as though it were a war trophy. The moment he landed, he grabbed the chain attached to it and spun it with one hand, almost as if he were copying Owen.
It was none other than Hulk.
Cull Obsidian slid down from the wall and crashed to the ground directly in front of Supergiant, kicking up a cloud of dust while barely clinging to consciousness, already on the verge of death.
Even seeing her companion in that state, Supergiant merely raised her eyes.
"Hulk finished off the weakling," Hulk growled with a grin while continuing to spin the massive axe in one hand. "More enemies," he demanded.
He didn't need to hear anything else.
His gaze settled on everyone present, especially Supergiant.
Without another thought, he immediately hurled the battle axe straight at her.
Pietro wanted to stop him because they still didn't understand how this woman's powers worked.
But he couldn't.
Spider Man appeared right in front of him with a flying kick that forced Pietro to dodge.
Peter was genuinely an excellent fighter, even against a speedster.
He kept firing webs toward the places Pietro wanted to move, as though he had calculated every possible movement in advance.
One web caught Pietro's leg, making him fall.
But Pietro spun across the ground while Peter came crashing down with an axe kick aimed at his head, smashing the concrete and leaving a deep crater.
Had that been Pietro's head, it would've been reduced to mush.
Using his super speed, Pietro tried to counterattack.
But Peter ducked effortlessly and swept backward with his leg, knocking Pietro down again with ease.
At the same time, he threw a downward punch to finish the attack.
But Pietro planted his hand on the ground first and used the momentum to disappear in a flash.
"Damn it. Owen really trained him well," Pietro muttered.
In just those few exchanges, he could already tell that the kid everyone was protecting really was a monster in every sense of the word.
Meanwhile, on Supergiant's side, when she saw the axe flying toward her, she didn't seem alarmed in the slightest.
Before it could reach her, Supergiant spoke.
"Protect me."
She said it so casually it sounded as though she were talking to the air itself.
But Cull Obsidian, who had been lying half dead on the ground, suddenly stood up like a zombie and leaped in front of her, stopping the axe with his own body as it pierced straight through his chest.
The giant didn't even let out a grimace of pain.
Not even a grunt.
And with the axe still embedded in his body, he leaped toward Hulk once again.
Even Hulk couldn't help being surprised for a moment, seeing the enemy he had supposedly crushed beneath his fists attacking him again.
That brief hesitation allowed Cull Obsidian to slam his forehead into Hulk's face, driving him backward.
Tony also widened his eyes for a moment.
"Wow. Your HR department must be working overtime," he couldn't help saying as he watched Supergiant use her companion, who was already at death's door, without the slightest hint of guilt.