"You still want to dance? Stop polluting everyone's eyes—you look like a turd."
Knocking Abomination down again gave Artoria that Uchiha Madara-crushing-the-Shinobi-Army vibe. The chuuni thought flashed by as her words enraged him. But Abomination surprised her: he snatched a hostage and tortured the poor soul in front of her. Artoria's ire spiked—did he think she was helpless? Behind her mask, beast-eyes glinted; she was truly angry.
"I'm here for Banner, not you—beat it."
For some reason Abomination held a grudge against Hulk, as if Banner had cuckolded him. Artoria wasn't letting him off; he dared threaten her.
"Scram."
He hurled the half-dead hostage at her, expecting her to catch. Wrong. A fist filled his vision, agony detonated across his face, and he went flying again.
"Really—think I'm as slow as you, idiot?"
By then Artoria's red cloak had vanished from her back and was wrapped around the hostage as a cushion. Add in big bro—now in fresh armor—catching the victim. Green-yellow, radioactive gamma-tinged blood dripped from Abomination's fist, sizzling holes into the street yet unable to corrode Artoria's plate.
"I'm done playing. Fragarach."
Noting Gwen struggling to keep Hulk busy, Artoria decided to end the farce with a Noble Phantasm.
Unlike the poison dagger or a mere three-star craft essence, this was the real deal: a short, artistic blade without a hilt, hovering above her arm atop a crystal-clear round base etched with three runes. As she poured magic in, the base blazed sapphire.
"What is that, Jarvis? Pull the files."
"Yes, sir."
After handing the hostage off to wary NYPD officers, Tony moved to back Artoria up—only to gape. What had his sister built behind his back? He needed answers, badly.
"Sorry, sir—no records in the database."
"Figures."
Nobody else heard the suit's chatter, but the blue-glowing sphere crackling with lightning drew every eye.
"Hulk—threat."
The raging Hulk turned, instincts screaming danger. Not yet at full strength, he watched as Artoria—now gripping the holy lance—prepared to raise anchor.
"You little bug—!"
Abomination was utterly enraged; his body surged taller once more and the bone spikes along his frame extended. One of his eyes, already burst by a hammer, was slowly regenerating. Fury drowned the instinctive sense of danger. He vaulted skyward, both fists clasped together, and brought them down toward Artoria.
"Watch out, little sister!"
Tony, helping Gwen, caught the scene out of the corner of his eye and nearly stopped breathing. In the next instant the blue light cloaking Artoria snapped inward. She struck a throwing pose, a flash of sapphire in her hand—an invisible beam punched straight through Abomination's chest. The monster crashed down, blood spurting from chest and back alike. Everyone froze for a heartbeat, but Hulk recovered first and bolted, terrified Artoria might turn on him next.
"So strong… awesome…"
Little Spider, finally back on his feet, pressed a hand to his aching waist, looking completely spent. No matter how loudly the crowd cheered, Artoria felt no joy—Abomination wasn't dead. He was only unconscious; a red treasure chest had dropped beside him. Fragarach's most vicious trait is its curse of non-healing wounds, so the monster's injuries remained open. Yet his vitality was monstrous. Artoria's shot had missed his heart; otherwise he'd already be greeting the Goddess of Death.
"Should I finish him off? Would that be… inhumane?"
With a flick of her wrist the Fragarach short-sword—wherever it had flown—returned to Artoria's grasp. She stared at the fallen Abomination, uncertain whether to deliver a final blow.
"Please leave him to us, nameless knight."
An elderly man in a general's uniform now appeared before her, trailed by a weeping girl and a handful of ragged soldiers. He spoke with iron in his voice.
"General, you do know what you're doing, don't you? This thing seems connected to you people."
Artoria knew exactly who he was—Hulk's father-in-law, General Ross. He was no better than the monster he hunted, forever scheming to capture Banner for experiments. He'd once concealed the truth, letting Dr. Banner work on an unnamed project—really a new Super-Soldier Serum. When the experiment went wrong they created the horror called Hulk. The hellscape around them was this man's doing.
"You super-powered types shouldn't get cocky. Let's see if you can stay that arrogant."
Ross, impervious to both threats and persuasion, shot Artoria and the other 'supers' a venomous glare.
"General Ross, you'd better watch yourself. I hear some recent army experiments have been less than humane. Hope you're not involved—otherwise you might check in and never check out."
Seeing his little sister 'bullied', Tony stepped forward, face-plate snapping open. He spoke each word like a hammer-blow. Army firewalls were child's play for Jarvis; in a heartbeat he'd identified Ross and linked him to several dubious projects. Tony would have loved to slap the arrogant old man—or blast him—but restrained himself.
"Hmph. We'll see."
With a curt wave Ross ordered his men to shackle Abomination and load him onto a truck, then stalked off, face dark.
"Boss, the army just took the yellow monster."
"Got it."
How many observers lingered in the shadows, pondering what came next? It didn't matter. Today's chaos had only just ended; tomorrow's would be worse. Pocketing the treasure chest, Artoria glanced at the sky and left with Tony. She still had to face her worried family—and a big brother who nagged like a mother hen.
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