The night was as dark as ink, but in a city like New York, night was only another kind of beginning.
But tonight, Broadway could not be kept peaceful.
"Tat-tat-tat!"
"Tat-tat-tat!"
From time to time, bursts of gunfire echoed down the world-famous street.
"Boom—!"
No one knew what had exploded in that blast.
"Boom!"
A car, reversing too fast, slammed into a fire hydrant at the side of the road. With a bang, water sprayed high into the air.
More vehicles were abandoned on the street, and under the neon lights, pedestrians ran in panic, screaming.
Flames, black smoke, explosions, and terrified cries filled the street.
"Oh, God! What is that?!" A middle-aged man shouted in horror as he ran, his eyes wide.
"Roar—!"
At the far end of the street, a huge humanoid monster appeared, bellowing as it smashed everything around it.
Beside the creature, a dozen police officers fired their guns, bullets sparking off its hide.
But the monster was completely unharmed. The gunfire only enraged it further. It swung its massive fists at fleeing civilians—people were sent flying like dolls under its blows.
"Boom—!"
A military Humvee burst through the fire and sped toward the monster. Rockets whooshed from its launcher, explosions booming one after another—but when the flames cleared, the creature stood unscathed.
The monster roared again, spotted its attacker, and leapt like a cannonball. With another thunderous boom, the Humvee exploded into a fireball.
High above, Harry sat casually on his flying skateboard, floating in the sky as he watched the chaos below with amusement.
"Alright, time to do my part."
He tossed aside his empty bag of potato chips, stood up, and disengaged his invisible field. Then, with a small grin, he stepped forward and dropped from the air.
Now that Emil Blonsky had transformed into the Abomination, it was the perfect time to retrieve the Hulk blood cloned by "Mr. Blue."
In the chaos below, no one noticed a figure descending quietly from the sky. Harry slipped easily into Dr. Stern's lab through the gaping hole left by Abomination.
There, he saw Dr. Samuel Sterns—his head swollen unnaturally, face twisted in bizarre ecstasy. Harry ignored him; someone else would handle him soon enough.
The replicated Hulk blood was stored in another room, neatly arranged on shelves. Harry spotted the only sealed door at a glance—it saved him the trouble of searching.
"Ding-dong."
"Detected large quantities of mutated Hulk blood. Convert to points?"
Harry blinked. This was unexpected. Items like Spider-Venom before could only be converted once—this situation was new.
"Convert," he said silently.
At his command, the vials of blood vanished one after another.
"Ding-dong."
"Remaining points: [-] points."
"Huh? Someone's here?" Harry's ear twitched—he heard faint movement outside.
Meanwhile, another figure slipped through the same hole and entered the lab.
"Dr. Sterns, what's wrong with you?" The intruder, a woman clad in black, scanned the room before approaching Sterns cautiously.
"It's… wonderful!" Sterns murmured with a blissful smile, his head pulsing grotesquely.
"Dr. Sterns?" she said uncertainly, taking a step back. Her hand slid down to the pistol strapped to her thigh.
"He's fine," a voice interrupted smoothly.
"Who are you?" the woman snapped coldly. Her gun was already raised—its barrel aimed squarely at Harry's head.
Harry smirked, leaning against the doorframe with his arms folded. He looked at the famous agent before him—tight black combat suit, perfect curves, calm but dangerous eyes. The legendary Natasha Romanoff, the Black Widow herself.
"It's you? Why are you here?" Natasha's expression flickered briefly in surprise, but her composure returned almost instantly.
"Oh? You know me?" Harry asked, amused.
"Of course I do. What are you doing here?" Her gun remained steady, her voice icy.
"Don't worry about me. I was just leaving," Harry said casually, waving a hand. "But you should probably put that gun down first."
After a moment's thought, Natasha lowered the weapon.
"You said Dr. Sterns is fine. Then what exactly happened to him?" she asked, glancing again at Sterns' grotesquely enlarged head.
"Look at his head," Harry said, tilting his chin toward the doctor.
"Huh?" Natasha frowned, then looked at Harry questioningly.
"Bruce Banner's blood dripped into his open wound," Harry explained evenly. "It caused a mutation—his brain's evolving."
He glanced briefly at his system interface:
Name: Samuel Sterns
Age: 43
Physical condition: Healthy (brain evolving)
Abilities: Mind Control (20), Brain Enhancement (20)
Items: None
"That explains it," Natasha said, brow furrowed. Nick Fury's order had been to retrieve Sterns safely—now that seemed impossible.
"You should leave quickly. It's going to get dangerous here soon," Harry said, touching his headset and walking toward the exit.
"Harry Osborn, where are you right now? Do you know what's happening?" came General Ross's furious voice through the earpiece.
"Ah—too loud," Harry muttered, grimacing as he took the headset off and rubbed his ear.
Once the shouting subsided, he put it back on.
"I'm coming. Tell me where Banner is," Harry said, flicking his wrist impatiently.
"He jumped down earlier—but he injected the antidote. He might not transform again. I need you to stop Blonsky as soon as possible," Ross said, his tone calmer now.
"Got it," Harry replied, then cut the connection.
Moments later, a faint hum descended from above—his flying skateboard stopped in front of him.
"Time to go," he said, stepping onto it. "And you—get Sterns out of here. Tell Nick Fury the order will be ready tomorrow. Have him pick it up in the afternoon—and make sure he brings the payment."
"I understand," Natasha nodded.
"Good."
With that, Harry shot into the air toward the sound of distant roars.
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