The pilot inside the hovering helicopter gawked at the scene below. His hands trembled on the controls, and for a terrifying moment, the aircraft lurched dangerously close to a nearby building.
"Jesus Christ." He whispered, steadying the helicopter just in time.
The other soldiers aboard weren't faring any better.
"Is that… a human being?" one of them muttered.
No one answered. No one could.
Because what they were seeing had just defied everything they knew about human limits.
Could a man move instantaneously?
Could a man command hundreds of cars at once?
Could a man single-handedly hurl Abomination across the battlefield like a rag?
Soren had just answered all those questions. And the answer was terrifying.
Abomination lay at the end of the ruined street, half-buried under debris. He let out a low, agonized roar as green blood poured freely from his mouth, staining the ground beneath him.
He tried to push himself up, but his body wouldn't move. Every nerve in his mutated body screamed in pain.
Then he heard...
Tap. Tap. Tap.
Footsteps.
Each step echoed like thunder in Abomination's ears, sending fear coursing through his battered body. His breath hitched as his glowing eyes caught sight of something moving.
Steel bars.
Dozens of them, thick and jagged, rose into the air, hovering around Soren like a storm of metal lances. They twisted and rotated, poised like weapons waiting to strike.
Abomination's fingers twitched, his body screaming for him to run. But his strength was gone.
Soren never broke his stride.
His gaze was unreadable.
He stopped in front of Abomination and raised a hand. Then, with a simple wave of his fingers
SHUNK!
Abomination's world exploded in pain.
His monstrous body convulsed as the bars pierced through flesh and bone, impaling him in multiple places. His arms, legs, and torso each one was skewered like a pinned insect.
One final, agonized roar tore from his throat before his voice cracked into weak, gurgling gasps. Blood dripped from the corners of his mouth, pooling beneath him.
"..."
Not a single soul spoke. Not the soldiers. No one.
They all simply stared.
Even General Ross, a man who had faced war, monsters, and chaos beyond imagination, felt his throat go dry.
This was no simple display of strength… this was a reminder.
Soren ignored the horrified stares. His attention was solely on his prize.
Reaching into his coat, he pulled out a small, delicate glass vial. With a simple thought, the blood from Abomination's open wounds rippled and shifted, then suddenly flowed out in thin, twisting streams.
The green liquid coiled like a living thread, spiraling through the air before filling the vial completely.
Satisfied, Soren corked the bottle and tucked it away.
A single glance toward the helicopter told him Ross had finally snapped out of his daze. The general quickly barked orders, signaling the soldiers to secure the battlefield.
As the helicopter began to descend, Ross finally found his voice.
"Mr. Macaluso…" Ross struggled to maintain composure.
Soren barely glanced at him. "I'll leave the cleanup to you, General."
Ross nodded, a bead of sweat trailing down his temple. "Understood. And… thank you."
Soren simply smiled.
Soren had wanted them to see. To witness what he could do when he was a little serious.
And from the way Ross's soldiers were shifting uneasily, gripping their weapons like they'd do anything against him, Soren knew the message had been received.
Soren turned his gaze toward the only other monster left standing.
Hulk.
He was still conscious, though barely. His massive body was slumped in the middle of the ruined street, chest rising and falling heavily.
Soren approached him, stopping just a few feet away.
Hulk's white eyes flickered up at him. For a moment, the two simply stared at each other.
The air between them felt different.
Soren tilted his head. "Can you still move?"
When the Hulk heard Soren's words, he nodded slightly, got up, and stood beside Soren. There was no violent rage in his eyes. It seemed that his consciousness had recovered a lot, and the green on his body was slowly receding and his body shape had returned to normal.
Banners' bare feet made soft padding noises against the pavement as he followed Soren Macaluso through the ruined cityscape.
His clothes were tattered, barely hanging onto his lean frame, his muscles aching from the brutal transformation and battle.
Strangely, though, he felt… calm.
For once, he wasn't struggling against the raging beast inside him. The Hulk had nodded at Soren's words and obeyed, something that Banner himself never thought possible.
And now, he was walking beside the most powerful man he'd ever met, trusting him.
It felt… nice.
Behind them, General Ross watched them go, his lips pressed into a thin line. His deputy shifted uneasily beside him.
"General…" The man hesitated. "Are we just going to let him take Banner like that?"
Ross exhaled, rubbing his temple. "What the hell do you expect me to do? Start a fight with him?"
The deputy fell silent.
Exactly.
Even if Ross wanted Banner back under military custody, what was he going to do? Throw soldiers at Macaluso?
They'd all seen it.
Soren Macaluso was impossible.
And if Ross had learned anything over the years, it was that when you came across something that impossible…
You didn't fight it. You survived it.
With a heavy sigh, he waved a tired hand. "Just… take Blonsky away. I have a long night ahead of me."
The hospital was eerily quiet as Bruce sat on the examination table, the bright white lights illuminating the exhaustion in his eyes.
Soren stood before him, hands glowing faintly green, his fingers hovering just above Bruce's chest.
A warm, pulsing life energy flowed from Soren's hands, seeping into Bruce's battered body. The pain vanished instantly, his wounds stitching themselves back together as if they had never been there.
Bruce let out a breath, glancing at Soren. "That… that should be impossible."
"I get that a lot." Soren smiled.
Bruce ran a hand down his face, still feeling the lingering warmth of the healing energy. "I don't know how you do this, but… thank you."
Soren withdrew his hands, the green light dissipating. "Don't thank me yet. This time, I'm not treating you for free."
Bruce blinked. Oh.
That was a problem.
"Uh… I don't really have~"
"Relax. I don't want your money." Soren cut him off with a chuckle.
Bruce frowned. "Then what do you want?"
Soren reached into his coat and pulled out a small, sterile vial.
"Just a little bit of your blood."
Bruce tensed, his scientist brain immediately going into overdrive. His blood? Why? What could Soren possibly want with it?
Soren raised an eyebrow. "Something wrong?"
Bruce hesitated… then sighed, slumping his shoulders.
Honestly, after everything that had happened tonight, what choice did he have?
If Soren wanted his blood, there wasn't much Bruce could do to stop him.
"Fine." He muttered. "Just… don't make me regret this."
Soren grinned, grabbing a syringe. "I won't."
With practiced ease, he drew a small amount of blood from Bruce's arm, the needle slipping in and out almost painlessly. As he held up the vial, the dark red liquid inside shimmered faintly with a hint of green.
Soren's eyes narrowed.
"…Fascinating."
Bruce shifted. "You say that like you've never seen it before."
Soren pocketed the vial. "Not in my own hands."
"Bruce, you take a break first. I need to study your blood. Maybe I can find a way to control your transformation." Soren said, the wheels of his mind already turning toward his genetic laboratory.
Bruce blinked, his exhausted mind still trying to process everything. He rubbed his temples, unsure whether he was imagining things.
"Wait... Really? You, You think you can help me?" Bruce asked, his voice shaky with both disbelief and hope.
The idea of not having to live in constant fear of the Hulk, of not having to run and hide from himself, was something he had dreamed of for so long.
Soren, ever the enigmatic figure, gave a small, almost amused smile.
"I didn't say it would be easy." Soren replied, the edge of his smile fading into seriousness. "But I've seen things in genes you wouldn't believe. Your transformation, Bruce... it's fascinating. But if anyone can find a way to control it, I believe I can."
Bruce let out a breath he didn't realize he'd been holding. There was a weight to the words, something he hadn't felt in a long time… real hope. "You're saying there's a chance?"
Soren nodded slowly. "Nothing is certain in this world, but yes, there's a chance. And I'll find it."
Bruce's face softened, and for a moment, he allowed himself to believe in the possibility of a different life. A life where he wasn't always running, where the Hulk wasn't an uncontrollable force within him.
"I... I can't believe I'm saying this, but thank you, Mr. Soren."
[GENETIC LABORATORY]
The sterile hum of machinery filled the underground lab as Soren stood before a massive screen, his fingers swiftly moving across a glowing holographic interface.
Two vials rested in specialized containers before him.
One contained Bruce's blood. The other contained Abominations.
Within seconds, the massive screen displayed a detailed genetic analysis. Lines of DNA twisted in elegant patterns, glowing with strange energy.
And then, results appeared.
GENETIC ANALYSIS COMPLETE
SUBJECT: Bruce Banner (HULK)
Primary Composition: Gamma Factor Mutation
Status: Extractable / Modifiable
꧁𓊈𒆜༺⚜༻𒆜𓊉꧂
Fellow Phantoms and aspiring Phantoms to be, if you seek to access advanced parts of this story procced to my shadowy realm of p@treon.
PhantomDream