In the control room, gunfire erupted from every direction. Fury shot back while directing his agents to hold the line.
"Engine Three is damaged! If this keeps up, we're all finished!"
Hill's voice was tight with urgency. She stared at the flashing red lights on her screen and rattled off the situation in rapid-fire bursts.
Fury's face was thunderous. He barked into the comms, "Stark, get to Engine Three now! We lose another engine, we're all falling out of the sky!"
Elsewhere, things were worse.
Dr. Banner had been caught in an explosion. His emotions spiraled. The Hulk tore free with a roar that shook the deck.
He was completely gone — rampaging, smashing everything in reach.
Natasha took one look and knew she couldn't stop him. She activated the bracelet Hermione had given her. The Disillusionment Charm took hold instantly, blending her smoothly into the surroundings, and she slipped away.
With no target left to chase, the Hulk smashed through a wall and ran straight into Thor.
Thor braced against the Hulk's fist, barely holding. "We are not your enemy! Think, Banner!"
The word "Banner" hit like a match to gasoline. The Hulk's expression twisted with rage, and his strength surged.
"No Banner!"
He swung. Thor went flying.
"Alright then." Thor picked himself up. Talking clearly wasn't going to work. A flicker of something sharp crossed his eyes. He called Mjolnir to his hand and brought it down hard, sending the Hulk skidding back dozens of meters.
And so it went. You punch, I kick.
Early on, Thor managed to hold his own — Mjolnir gave him the edge. But the Hulk only got wilder as the fight dragged on, his power climbing with every blow. Gradually, Thor stopped gaining ground. He was just absorbing hits.
Hermione strolled onto the third-level deck right as the spectacle was reaching its peak.
She propped her chin in her hand and watched.
Thor was still early-stage, she thought. Hadn't unlocked his full power yet. Couldn't beat the Hulk — made sense. His father wasn't dead yet. The "grieving son" power-up wasn't available. The whole family tragedy arc hadn't finished playing out. The destined lone-wolf fate wasn't fully activated. He was still a few upgrades short.
She watched Thor about to get pinned to the deck and ground into the floor.
Then she moved.
She walked over. Unhurried.
The Hulk caught her in his peripheral vision.
His face went green.
He remembered this one. Last time they'd met, she'd left a scar on his innocent soul that had never quite healed.
Hermione raised her wand.
The Hulk let out a howl, spun around, and ran.
"Hulk no want slugs!" he bellowed as he sprinted. "No want slugs!"
Both hands were clamped over his shorts, death-grip tight, absolutely certain that if he let his guard down for even a second, little Hulk would be flapping in the wind again.
Hermione followed at a leisurely stroll. She didn't actually cast anything.
She just kept walking.
Her positioning backed him steadily toward the edge of the deck. The Hulk reached the railing, looked down, and jumped. No hesitation whatsoever.
Free fall. Thousands of feet of open air.
Wind screamed past. The Hulk vanished into the clouds, leaving only a faint, fading echo drifting up behind him.
"No want slugs..."
Thor stared at the empty air where the Hulk had just been, completely at a loss.
He turned to look at Hermione. His expression said everything.
What just happened?
Hermione shrugged. He did it to himself.
In the control room, Hill was getting a report that the Hulk and Thor were tearing each other apart on the third-level deck. Her voice went sharp. "We can't let the Hulk keep destroying the ship! Someone has to stop him, or the Helicarrier is done!"
"Get people down there to draw him off!" Fury snapped. "Now!"
"Sir..." Jasper Sitwell spoke up, his voice carrying a strange note. "The Hulk... jumped off on his own."
"What?" Fury stopped. He stared. "Say that again."
"The Hulk." Sitwell sounded like he couldn't quite believe the words coming out of his own mouth. "He saw the witch lady coming, turned around, ran, and then... jumped straight off the ship."
Fury: ...
Hill: ...
A strange, total silence settled over the command center.
---
Engine Three.
"Captain! Pull the lever!"
Tony's voice crackled through the comms, half-buried under the screech of metal on metal. He'd already fixed the engine and was in there himself, physically pushing the turbine blades to get them spinning. He needed Steve to work the controls from outside , slow the engine down so he could get clear.
He waited. No response.
Tony's stomach dropped.
Oh no.
The next second, the spinning blades caught him. A CACOPHONY OF CLANGING METAL rang out. Sparks scattered in every direction.
---
On the other side, Steve had his gun up and was trading fire with the soldiers who'd breached the corridor.
Bullets everywhere. Back and forth. Neither side landing a hit.
The marksmanship was painful to watch.
"Captain, your aim is terrible!"
Hermione's voice materialized right next to him, bright with schadenfreude.
"Keep missing and Tony's going to end up as mincemeat!"
Steve startled badly. His hand jerked. He nearly dropped his gun.
"What are you doing here? Get down, it's dangerous!" he shouted.
He fired another burst at the enemy as he said it. The bullets punched into the wall and threw off a shower of sparks.
He was cursing Fury in his head at the same time.
What is he thinking, letting a girl wander around in the middle of this?
Does he want her dead?
The mercenaries answered with a volley of their own. Bullets whipped past both of them.
"Nuisance."
Hermione pressed her lips together and flicked her wand.
"Incendio!"
Fire erupted from the tip, a wall of it roaring down the corridor like a dragon's breath, swallowing every soldier in the passage whole.
The smell of scorched air spread quickly.
She turned and pointed her wand at Engine Three.
"Arresto Momentum!"
The turbine blades slowed. Slowed. Stopped.
"Accio Iron Man suit!"
An invisible force yanked the red figure out of the engine.
Thud.
Tony hit the deck. His battered armor clattered against the floor with a heavy, dull impact. He lay there without moving, scratched and dented and looking very much like a pile of scrap.
Steve stared.
What... just happened?
Tony caught the Captain's expression. He coughed twice and forced his head up.
"Relax. Never seen a wizard before?"
"A... wizard?" Steve looked at Hermione in her black robes.
He supposed it did look like something out of a cartoon.
He thought back over the last few minutes. He felt like he'd stumbled into a very strange film.
Then the floor tilted.
Both of them lurched, scrambling for footing.
Fury's voice detonated in their earpieces. "Stark! What's happening over there? Barton just took out another engine! Fix it or we're all going into the ocean to feed the sharks!"
Tony's stomach dropped a second time.
He'd been so focused on getting himself out of the engine that he'd missed the one thing that actually mattered.
Hermione's Arresto Momentum had killed every bit of rotational speed he'd spent so long building up.
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