Downtown Manhattan – Noon
The air was thick with sirens.
Glass shattered from above as a car alarm blared. Pedestrians screamed, running down avenues, pushing past each other in panic.
Somewhere between 6th and 40th, a massive, dark green figure crashed through a parking garage, pulverizing concrete with each step. Its muscles were knotted like tree trunks, skin veined with black and green lines like corruption flowing through stone.
It wasn't Hulk.
It was worse.
This thing was leaner but taller, its back lined with spines. Its face was twisted, almost humanoid, with glowing yellow eyes and a jaw that looked surgically reinforced—its teeth unnaturally square and jagged like broken blades.
People screamed again as it flipped a bus into a row of buildings with a roar that cracked windows.
The military response arrived fast—choppers overhead, Humvees rolling in, sonic cannons mounted and aimed.
"Do not engage hand-to-hand!"
"Use artillery!"
"FIRE!"
The first cannon blast hit square in the chest.
The creature staggered back, but didn't fall.
Then it smiled.
It leapt forward like a missile, crashing into the military barricade. The first Humvee folded in half under its fists. A tank was lifted and thrown into a pharmacy. Concrete sprayed. Metal screamed.
Explosions painted the sky orange.
From a Rooftop Nearby
Kai had been mid-delivery, bag slung over his back, when the ground trembled beneath his bike tires. He looked up just in time to see smoke rising from the next avenue.
Crowds ran past him.
Screaming. Bloody. Terrified.
He abandoned the bag, bolted down the alley, and climbed a fire escape to see the disaster unfolding.
His breath caught.
"What the hell…?"
The dark green monster stood tall, roaring with rage as bullets pinged uselessly off its hide. Choppers circled like flies—then one got too close.
With inhuman speed, the beast leapt, grabbed the chopper mid-air, and slammed it down into the street.
BOOM.
The shockwave rocked the block.
Kai ducked and shielded himself. He looked up again.
That's when he landed.
A blur of green dropped from the sky with a thunderous crack.
The Hulk.
Pure rage and muscle. No words. No plan. Just fury.
The green goliath stood up straight and let out a chest-deep bellow.
"RRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!"
The dark green monster turned its head.
Then, with animal instinct, it charged.
CLASH!
The Battle Begins
Hulk met the charge with a shoulder slam that knocked both titans sideways into a jewelry store. Glass exploded. Brick cracked. The ground trembled beneath them as the street dipped from the weight of their struggle.
Hulk grabbed the enemy by the throat and drove his fist into its stomach—once, twice, three times. Each blow echoed like thunder.
But the monster retaliated. Its claws raked across Hulk's chest, drawing blood. Then it headbutted him and shoved him backward into a truck, crushing the cab like paper.
Hulk roared in pain—and fury.
"RRRAAAAAGH!"
He charged again.
This time, he lifted the monster clean off the ground and slammed it into the pavement, cratering the asphalt.
Debris flew in all directions.
Kai shielded his eyes on the rooftop. The power… it was terrifying.
He could barely believe what he was seeing.
But he couldn't look away.
Military Retreat
On the ground, soldiers were pulling back. The general Ross barked through comms:
"Fall back! Let the Hulk handle it! Heavy units retreat to fallback zone C!"
Sirens continued. Civilians hid behind mailboxes and crushed taxis. The air was filled with smoke and flame.
And still, the monsters fought.
The Hulk ripped a lamppost from the ground and used it as a bat, slamming it across the enemy's jaw with a shattering crunch. The dark green creature reeled, but countered with a ground-pound that sent Hulk flying into the side of a delivery truck.
Both titans were panting now—bleeding, cracking the very earth with each step.
Then, the dark green monster roared, revealing a chest full of pulsating red veins—and the corrupted HYDRA symbol burned into its chest like a brand.
Kai saw it and froze.
HYDRA.
It was another experiment.
Another failure.
Or maybe... a success.
Kai's Turning Point
Kai clenched the edge of the rooftop.
He looked down at the people—injured, hiding, crying.
He looked at the Hulk—battered but still standing.
And then he looked at his wrist.
The Omnitrix glowed, faint and ready.
He didn't hesitate.
He turned and ducked into a back stairwell, where no cameras could see, no civilians would follow.
His heart raced.
His breath shook.
But his mind was clear.
He raised his wrist.
Click—
The interface popped up. Alien silhouettes spun in a neon green loop.
Kai muttered, "Hero time."