Seeing Doctor Doom's taunt in the distance, the Hulk let out a roar and leapt at him. Doom drove a fist up to meet the airborne Hulk and the two collided midair. The concussion cracked like thunder, a shockwave ripping outward and flipping cars along the street.
Doom's entire body had become some kind of cosmic metal—density spiked, mass multiplied, strength pushed to a terrifying level. He still lagged behind the Hulk, but not by so much that he couldn't trade blows. The two powerhouses hammered each other without pause.
High above, the Human Torch wanted to help, but the melee below was too tight; worried he'd hit the Hulk, he could only circle.
Mr. Fantastic charged in, trying to tie Doom down, and was flung away by the backwash the moment he neared. There was no way for him to join a fight at this tier.
The battle dragged on. The Hulk's strength climbed with his rage, and Doom began to fall behind—but every exchange powdered more walls and pavement. The kill zone ballooned block by block.
Watching, Black Widow thought, If this keeps up, I'll have to call Tony in the suit. Per Nick Fury's orders, they would only call the Spider Alliance if absolutely nothing else worked.
Just as Natasha prepared to ping Iron Man, a massive figure came barreling in from afar—the Thing. On the monitors, Ben Grimm had seen the situation; he decided that choosing to be "normal" was just cowardice. He'd stepped back into the reversal rig and made himself the Thing again.
He rushed Doom and smashed him, sending Doom flying. Cheers broke out.
Doom only laughed. "Tickling me? Is that all?" His body was preternaturally hard; whatever had changed him had burned out his pain response. He barely felt anything—and his stamina seemed bottomless.
The three-way brawl turned even more brutal; towers and streets took hit after hit. Reed grew frantic, mind racing. He shouted to the sky, "Johnny—superheat him, then quench with water! Rapid heat and rapid cool should make him seize up!"
Natasha caught on at once. She yelled toward the melee, "Banner! You and the rock guy—hold him down!" The Hulk and the Thing traded a glance and lunged, clamping onto Doom's arms.
Johnny banked to dive—when a voice tore across the sky.
Natasha's and Banner's hearts sank at the sound. "Him? He's here? Great—there goes Fury's plan."
Sue heard it too and frowned. Why does that voice sound so familiar…
A figure speared down from the clouds at terrifying speed, snapping into view—black spider suit, a presence like a demon walking out of hell. Gasps rippled through the crowd.
"It's him—the Hellblood Demon!"
"Victor's done for."
"Even so… can even the Hellblood Demon break that defense?"
Reed looked over, urgent. "Sir—please restrain this one. His defense is—"
Crack.
The slap sent Reed skimming through the air. He hit a wall with a wet smack and hung there like a flattened poster. Maguire's face curled in displeasure. "Cut the buddy-buddy talk. Do I know you? Spare me the nonsense."
Everyone on scene went cold. As the rumors said—he didn't play by any rules. A real villain. You never knew what he would do next.
Maguire's mouth twitched in a secretive smile. In the next instant he stood before Doom. The Hulk and the Thing stared, rattled.
"You two big oafs," Maguire said, voice like ice. "Get out of my way. You sticking around here looking to die?"
They remembered what had just happened to Reed—and their own past run-ins with Iron Man. Faces blanching, they let go of Doom and backed off fast.
Maguire faced Doom. With a flick, a cigar appeared between his fingers. He lit up with lazy flair, took a pull, and let the smoke roll.
"I know you've got little schemes cooking elsewhere. Make sure I don't catch you at it. Or… well—you get it."
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