Chapter 263: Are All Hell's Kitchen Residents This Insane?
Ethan had been thoroughly enjoying the race up to this point, when a strange, unsettling sensation prickled at the back of his mind. His brow furrowed.
He looked up toward the sky, and something flickered across his eyes — surprise. A shape was falling at incredible speed, like a shooting star streaking across the night. A vague, unplaceable premonition settled over him.
He activated Observation Haki immediately, trying to get a clear read on whatever was plummeting toward them.
The moment it resolved into focus, he let out an involuntary sound of surprise. A massive green figure, built like a mountain of muscle, radiating an almost oppressive physical presence.
Something about the shape rang a bell. Wait — isn't that Revenant?
Ethan turned the question over privately. Military? S.H.I.E.L.D.'s handiwork? Whoever's idea this was, dropping this thing into the middle of things — that was genuinely interesting.
His best guess: someone was trying to sabotage the race.
And dropping the thing in from the sky, rather than smuggling it in on the ground, made sense too — anything approaching at street level would've been intercepted by Ethan the second it got close.
Not that Ethan had any intention of stepping in. He was confident the field of racers down there could handle themselves just fine.
If anything, this was about to make the race a lot more interesting.
A flicker of genuine anticipation ran through him — he figured this sudden curveball would only add more tension and spectacle to the whole event.
He leaned over and murmured something quietly to Xuan Yin standing beside him.
Xuan Yin's face twisted into something distinctly odd as she listened, but she nodded anyway, clearly understanding what Ethan wanted done.
The people around them had noticed the exchange, of course, throwing curious glances their way, wondering what exactly was going on. Ethan offered no explanation. He simply waited.
The wait didn't last long. Overhead, the clouds churned violently, like something massive was tearing through them at speed. Hell's Kitchen's power players — Charles, Fisk, Wanda — all felt the disturbance too, heads snapping up toward the sky, surprise plain on their faces.
Charles and Erik exchanged a look, both catching the same wary confusion in each other's eyes. Magneto's hand twitched, ready to act, but Xavier shook his head slightly, signaling restraint. His gaze drifted instead toward Ethan, as if hoping to find an answer there.
Down on the ground, both the live crowd and the online audience remained fully absorbed in the race itself — only ten cars left, every racer pushing everything they had for the win, cars flipping through the air, stunt after stunt, an absolute spectacle.
And then, without warning, something enormous slammed down out of the sky. It came in fast, like a meteor crashing straight into Hell's Kitchen. The impact hit like a bomb going off — smoke erupting skyward, the entire venue thrown instantly into chaos.
The crowd screamed and scattered, blindsided by the sudden violence. The livestream audience wasn't any calmer, comments flooding in, desperate to know what had just happened.
"WHAT WAS THAT?! Did a meteor just fall out of nowhere?!"
"How's the race supposed to continue now, that thing's blocking the whole track!"
"Is this a broadcast malfunction? Or did someone just try to sabotage the whole event?!"
"WAIT, that's not a meteor! That's — that's a GODDAMN MONSTER!"
As the smoke slowly cleared, the crowd finally got a clear look at whatever had just crashed down. Not a meteor at all — a towering figure, roughly ten feet tall, green from head to toe.
It stood dead center in the arena, letting out a roar loud enough to shake the whole neighborhood, like it meant to flatten Hell's Kitchen where it stood.
The ten finalists, naturally, saw it too.
"Whoa, looks like somebody's invading Hell's Kitchen. You think we should do something about it?" Garfield-Peter asked the other Peter.
Roman, riding with Dominic, just let loose a string of curses. "Oh HELL no! There's a MONSTER now?! How are we supposed to keep racing with a MONSTER out here?!"
While the racers grumbled and the livestream audience scrambled to figure out whether the race would even continue —
Ethan picked up the microphone. "Everyone in Hell's Kitchen, don't worry too much — this is a special bonus segment the production team put together, just for tonight's racers and residents! Racers, dodge the big guy and get to the finish line safely — and whoever manages to take him down gets a special prize!"
The moment he finished, the racers erupted in a chorus of furious complaints. They were annoyed — figured this was Hell's Kitchen's production team messing with them for entertainment — but the race was already in motion, and none of them were about to just give up.
Nobody for a second doubted Ethan's story. It didn't occur to a single one of them that the green giant might actually be a genuine threat — they all just assumed it was another one of Ethan's stunts.
By this point, the green giant was already charging toward them.
Every step it took landed heavy enough to shake the ground beneath it. Its eyes burned with raw, violent fury, like it meant to tear apart anything standing in its path.
The livestream audience was starting to genuinely panic, comment sections lighting up in a frenzy.
"Is this seriously a scripted bit?? That thing looks TERRIFYING. One punch from that and you're just gone."
"Wait, I think I've seen this guy before — that green monster that attacked Hell's Kitchen a while back, that's the same one!"
"Pretty sure that's called the Hulk or something! Though I don't remember him having no pants like this one does!"
"I think Hell's Kitchen's live crowd is about to full-on panic."
"This is legit terrifying, doesn't even look like a stunt to me."
Hell's Kitchen's own residents, though, showed absolutely zero fear. If anything, they looked thrilled.
"Mr. Cross really does look out for us! Bet he put this monster out here special, just so the folks who didn't get into the race would have something to hunt tonight!"
"ALRIGHT BOYS, GEAR UP, TIME TO WORK!"
"GRAB YOUR GUNS, LET'S GO! We are TAKING this thing down — there's a prize on the line!"
"Back off, this one's ours — Tiger Gang's got this!"
They pulled out weapons from every direction, gearing up to throw down with the green giant head-on.
The livestream audience watched Hell's Kitchen's residents react to all this in stunned silence.
"...Are ALL Hell's Kitchen residents built this insane??"
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