Hawk's raised right hand paused in mid-air.
In her loungewear, Betty Ross opened the door, looked at Hawk with a usual expression, then opened the door wider and stepped aside: "Please come in."
As if she had known Hawk would come.
Hawk withdrew his right hand, glanced at Betty Ross, who showed no fear of death, only calmness in the face of it, inviting him inside, chuckled, and then stepped into the room.
The door closed.
Betty walked towards the apartment's bar.
"Would you like something to drink?"
"No, I'm in a hurry."
"..."
Betty, who was almost at the bar, trembled involuntarily after hearing Hawk's words, then took a deep breath: "Then can I have a glass of whiskey?"
Hawk thought for a moment.
"Sure!"
"Thank you."
Betty calmly thanked him, then walked behind the bar, took a bottle of whiskey from the cabinet behind her, and poured herself a glass.
Hawk watched Betty calmly.
Betty held up her glass. Though her expression was calm, and her gaze did not show fear of imminent death, her trembling right hand holding the glass revealed that her heart was not as calm as her expression and gaze.
After all, there are few who can truly not fear death.
Hawk feared death as well.
Unfortunately...
"If I knew it would come to this, I wouldn't have done it."
"You killed my father."
Facing Hawk's gaze, Betty said calmly: "I was only avenging my father, just like you avenged your sister."
Hawk chuckled.
"Yes, and precisely because of that, you have the chance to enjoy a last meal."
"Thank you."
"You're welcome."
Hawk looked expressionlessly at the whiskey that was still two-thirds full in Betty's hand: "I'm curious, what was your plan initially, to kidnap Gwen and make me die in shame?"
Betty took another sip of whiskey, looked at Hawk.
"No."
"Then what was it?"
"Kill her, record it on video, and send it to you."
"..."
Listening to Betty's plan, Hawk was a bit surprised, looking calmly at Betty.
He seriously suspected this Betty Ross was already insane.
But it didn't matter.
Mental illness might grant immunity from prosecution in court, but not with him.
Hawk thought, chuckling lightly.
"Nice plan, if you can't kill me, then kill my girlfriend. This way, even if I find out and kill you, Gwen would have died with you."
"Yes!"
Betty nodded, cleanly admitting it, then said in a deep voice: "Unfortunately, you ruined it."
While speaking.
Betty seemed to think of something, smiled self-mockingly, shook her head, drank the last sip of whiskey, then placed the glass on the bar and looked up at Hawk.
"She's really lucky."
"Her luck is your misfortune."
Hawk said expressionlessly.
"Swoosh!"
"Thud!"
In a flash, Hawk appeared in front of Betty, grabbing her neck and pulling her over the bar, then with a thud, pinned her high against the wall.
He slightly loosened the grip on her neck with his right hand.
"Giving you one last chance to speak."
"Hehe!"
Without struggling or fear, Betty fixed her gaze on Hawk's eyes, letting out a strange laugh, then her voice turned calm and venomous.
"I'll be waiting for you in Hell."
"..."
Hawk paused for a moment, then seeing the venomous gaze in Betty's eyes, smiled slightly: "I will be in Hell."
After all, his sister was still waiting for him in Hell to bring her home.
With that.
With a sudden force from Hawk's right hand, a crisp cracking sound was heard, and Betty's expression froze in an eerie venomous glare.
Betty Ross...
Dead!
Thud.
Betty's lifeless body fell straight to the floor.
Hawk shifted his gaze away from Betty's body, focusing on a large photo on the far wall of the living room.
It was a photo of Bruce Banner and Betty Ross taken at their wedding.
It was their wedding photo.
Hawk raised an eyebrow, seemingly thinking of something, his gaze fell once more on the lifeless body of Betty on the floor.
Thoughts flashed quickly through his mind.
After a while.
Looking at Betty's body, Hawk suddenly chuckled.
"Heh."
"Entering the game with your own body?"
"Alright."
"I'll give you that chance."
Hawk's thoughts were spinning as he took one last look at Betty, now a corpse, and said this before turning to leave the apartment.
He guessed what Betty was up to the moment he saw that wedding photo.
Betty certainly couldn't kill him on her own.
So…
If Betty wanted revenge for her father, she'd have to rely on outside help.
But who dared to help her?
Who could help her.
After Hawk's display of might at Quantico, the muted military surely wouldn't aid her.
At least, not until the military formulated a plan with at least an eighty percent chance to defeat him would they bother to act against him again.
Unless the military wanted to stage another Quantico tragedy!
S.H.I.E.L.D.?
Perhaps.
But Hawk had returned to New York City two months ago, and S.H.I.E.L.D. hadn't made any moves, indicating they didn't plan to meddle in this matter.
Perhaps because Hawk is in the right, or maybe like the military, they lacked confidence in capturing Hawk.
In short, without external support, Betty avenging her father with her own strength was a tough task.
So…
She chose to put herself into the game, reckoning her marriage to Bruce Banner was also part of her revenge plan.
Bruce Banner might not avenge a father-in-law who once hunted him.
But Bruce Banner would certainly avenge his wife.
If the wife were pregnant, even better.
Pity!
Betty Ross wasn't pregnant.
Hawk was certain about this.
He reckoned Betty initially planned to get pregnant before executing her grand revenge plan of putting herself into the game, but perhaps she noticed she hadn't gotten pregnant, or realized she couldn't become pregnant, so she simply went ahead with the plan.
She was betting that by putting herself into the game and getting killed by Hawk, her newly wedded husband Bruce Banner would avenge her.
Not a bad plan.
Hawk was interested in seeing if Bruce Banner would seek revenge.
Because when he returned from Calver Lake, he had some regrets.
The reason is simple.
Just like Dagu could transform into Ultraman Tiga again even without the energy stick.
The Hulk was dead, but Bruce Banner wasn't.
Who knows if Bruce Banner would transform into the Hulk once more.
So Hawk felt a tinge of regret after returning from Calver Lake that time.
But back then, he still held on to the principle of targeted revenge for the right grievances.
Now…
He gave Betty, who put herself into the game, a chance.
Hawk was gone.
Bruce returned.
But by the time he got back, Hawk had already left over two hours ago, and Betty Ross, lying on the floor, had turned cold and rigid.
When Bruce saw Betty's corpse on the floor, it was as if his head had been struck by a hammer, buzzing, he froze instantly.
Just happening to meet Bruce Banner downstairs, and coming up together, so did Victoria Hand, who also saw Betty's corpse.
The S.H.I.E.L.D. satellite had been monitoring the area.
She knew when Hawk had left, but chose not to come up until Bruce Banner arrived.
Victoria Hand looked at Bruce Banner beside her, whose lips were twitching, eyes filling with tears, opened her mouth to say something but was interrupted by a roar.
"Betty!"
Bruce Banner screamed as he quickly ran down to Betty's corpse, knelt down, and with unbelieving eyes, his hands trembling, carefully touched Betty.
Upon feeling the cold chill from his fingertips, Bruce Banner collapsed instantly.
He hurriedly embraced Betty's corpse, crying his heart out.
Victoria Hand watched, took a deep breath, but remained silent.
Bruce Banner held Betty's corpse, crying for a long time, from bright sun until sunset.
Until Victoria Hand, unable to watch any longer, came over to pull him up, and only then did he slump powerlessly to the side, watching the S.H.I.E.L.D Agents help wrap Betty's remains.
Bruce Banner sat on the floor, his eyes vacant, seeming to have lost all strength and hope to live.
Victoria Hand remained silent for a while.
"My condolences, Bruce."
"Who."
"What?"
"Who did it."
Bruce squeezed those three words out almost through gritted teeth.
Victoria Hand looked at Bruce, then noticed his eyes were bloodshot, a flame called vengeance spreading within.
"Hawk."
Victoria Hand didn't hide, she directly named Hawk, and proceeded to recount how Betty had hired criminals through a black market intermediary to attempt to kidnap and kill Hawk's girlfriend, but failed when Hawk discovered it, leading to her own demise.
Bruce's fury burned intensely at first.
But…
After Victoria Hand finished speaking, the flames in Bruce Banner's eyes visibly faltered.
After all, the implication was clear.
Betty made the first move, and from a certain perspective, Hawk killed her in vengeance.
Bruce Banner became silent after hearing Victoria Hand's recount.
Victoria, observing Bruce's eyes becoming vacant again, pressed her lips together.
"My condolences."
"…"
Bruce Banner sat slumped on the floor, then seemed to remember something and looked at the wedding photo hanging on the wall, appearing dazed.
…