Chapter 265: Go on Then — Go Protect Your Hell's Kitchen
Both Peters were kicking themselves now — of all the times to not be wearing their suits, this had to be the one, and it meant Peter Carker couldn't risk firing webbing at the green giant directly.
Faced with Revenant's onslaught and no better options, Peter Carker settled for spitting webbing purely to dodge the incoming attacks.
Rather than keep driving forward, though, the car planted itself and turned to engage Revenant directly.
Paul, meanwhile, wasn't nearly so lucky. Swerving hard to avoid Revenant, he lost control and slammed straight into a roadside tree. The impact nearly knocked him out cold — thankfully, nothing worse than that.
Right behind him, Iceman watched the whole thing unfold from his own car.
His sense of justice flared instantly — he wanted to stop and go help the Peters fight the green monster right then and there. Pyro, though, stopped him cold.
"What do you think you're doing? You trying to throw the whole race away?" Pyro snapped, furious.
"You want me to just sit here and watch this green freak tear the place apart?! This clearly isn't something Ethan set up — that thing is a genuine threat!" Iceman shot back, just as heated.
Iceman couldn't stomach sitting on the sidelines. He'd been in Hell's Kitchen long enough to know that, aside from Dr. Banner, nobody around here could transform into something like that. He knew exactly where his responsibility lay — he wasn't about to just watch innocent people get hurt.
Pyro didn't share the concern. He shot a glance at the beat-up black Dodge closing in fast behind them and said, cold and flat, "Look around you. What's this thing actually managing to destroy? Don't forget whose territory this is.
And look — who's actually gotten hurt so far? Ethan's watching this whole thing personally."
Pyro genuinely didn't care whether ordinary people got hurt. All that mattered to him was winning the race and looking out for mutant interests.
"Just DRIVE! Someone else will handle it!" Pyro urged, eyes locked on the rearview mirror where the black Dodge kept closing the gap, irritation plain in his voice. He kept pushing Iceman to hit the gas, desperate to shake their pursuer.
Iceman, though, sat frozen behind the wheel like a statue — not answering, not moving the car an inch. He just stared back at Pyro, stubborn, waiting for something.
Pyro realized fast that this immovable idiot wasn't driving anywhere unless something changed. With a resigned sigh, he threw open the door and decided to handle it himself.
"I'll deal with it. You keep driving!" Pyro told Iceman, half-convincing himself this counted as standing up for mutant honor too. He slammed the door shut and turned to face the towering green mass — Revenant.
Pyro took a deep breath, gathered every ounce of fire in his body, and unleashed it straight at Revenant. Flame carved a blazing arc through the air, streaking toward the monster.
At almost the same moment, the Vongola's Sun Guardian, Knuckle, made the same call.
Without a second's hesitation, he leapt from his car, ready to throw down.
Right behind him came two of the Ninja Turtles — orange-masked Michelangelo and blue-masked Leonardo — nunchucks and katana already drawn, ready to fight for what was right.
Luke Hobbs stopped his car too, drew his sidearm, and opened fire on Revenant.
Bullets carved silver streaks through the air, tearing toward the green monster.
All at once, without any coordination, every one of them converged on Revenant. Looking at these insect-sized humans daring to challenge him, Revenant felt nothing but fury and contempt.
He roared and charged, his massive frame tearing through the street.
Pyro's flames roared to life, Knuckle's fists came down like sledgehammers, the Turtles' nunchucks and blades flashed cold arcs through the air, and Hobbs's bullets kept tearing into Revenant one after another.
Revenant kept roaring, kept swinging that massive fist, throwing himself at them again and again.
In the middle of all this, Dominic saw his opening and slipped past the green monster. He didn't join the fight — chose to make a break for it instead. As far as he was concerned, none of these people's lives were his problem. He just wanted first place.
"These idiots actually STOPPED to fight? Who cares if these Hell's Kitchen losers live or die, NICE!" Roman crowed from the passenger seat, thrilled with Dominic's call.
Dominic just glanced once in the rearview mirror at the people locked in battle with Revenant, felt nothing, and kept driving straight ahead. In his mind, only one thing mattered right now: first place.
. . .
Dr. Banner, worn out from the intensity of the race and Happy's company, had passed out from sheer exhaustion. Now, he slowly came back to consciousness, head still foggy.
He forced his eyes open, pushed himself upright, put his glasses back on, and looked at the screen. A massive green figure was tearing through the frame, destroying everything in its path. He froze, a strange wave of emotion rising in his chest.
"Did the Hulk get out?" he murmured to himself, confusion and unease settling in.
He kept his eyes locked on the screen, watching the green giant rampage through Hell's Kitchen. His brow furrowed, anger and worry both flooding through him.
He pulled off his glasses, rubbed his eyes, put them back on, trying to get a clearer look. That's when he noticed it — this green figure wasn't quite the same as the Hulk.
Something was subtly off about the head, the build was slightly different too. Banner took a slow breath, working to steady himself.
Then, something stirred inside him. He looked down at his own hands, as if he could feel the Hulk's power surging just beneath the surface.
"You want to come out?" he murmured softly, the way someone might talk to a child.
Banner wasn't the man who used to fear the Hulk anymore. Thanks to the enhanced suppression hairclip Ethan had given him, he could now control the Hulk directly, even hold basic exchanges with him.
He understood now — the Hulk wasn't a monster. He was a being of immense power, but at heart, more like a five-year-old — just wanting friends, wanting to be understood and accepted.
Right now, Banner could feel the Hulk stirring restlessly inside him. He wanted out. Wanted to beat some sense into this green intruder.
Because this thing was tearing up Hell's Kitchen.
And the Hulk had come to genuinely love this place. These days, the Hulk liked to wander Hell's Kitchen freely, just roaming around.
Banner had been against it at first, but with Ethan's assurances — and backing from the other doctors — he'd eventually agreed to let it happen.
The first time the Hulk had shown up and walked around Hell's Kitchen, the residents had been terrified.
But over time, as the Hulk kept wandering through, people started realizing the green giant wasn't actually scary at all — more like an oversized kid — and warmed up to him.
These days, the Hulk regularly played with the local kids from the community school.
By now, he genuinely loved this place.
Banner understood exactly what the Hulk was feeling right now.
"Alright, then," he said quietly. "Go on. Go protect your Hell's Kitchen."
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