[Third person POV]
"RAGHHHHHH!!"
The Hulk's roar thundered through the battlefield, a guttural, primal sound that rattled bones and seemed to shake the very air around them. With a violent swing of his massive arms, he sent a shockwave outward that hurled everyone in different directions.
Peter was flung across the cracked ground, rolling and bouncing before skidding to a halt. Harry was blasted the other way, tumbling through broken chunks of Earth before forcing himself upright again. Aria, caught in the blast of pure Gamma energy erupting from the Hulk's skin, was thrown back several meters, her telekinetic barrier flickering from the overload.
The Hulk's fury was unrelenting. He raised both colossal fists high into the air, muscles bulging and veins glowing faintly green, before slamming them together into a single hammer strike aimed directly at the Leader. The air itself seemed to buckle under the incoming blow.
But before the fists could land, a streak of blue lightning and a trail of rainwater sliced across the battlefield.
Peter appeared in an instant, sliding into position between the Hulk and the Leader. His hands shot up, palms bracing against the Hulk's descending knuckles. The impact created a shockwave so intense that it rippled across his suit, causing the blue energy lining to flare to a blinding brightness.
Then—BOOM!
The suit detonated outward in a storm of shattered plating and sparking circuitry. Shards flew in every direction like shrapnel. The shockwave formed a dome of compressed air that blasted the rain away, leaving a sudden, eerie dry zone around them.
Aria, regaining her footing, extended her hand and gripped the Leader telekinetically, locking him in place. MJ threw up a shimmering psychic force-field, shielding the others from the concussive blast's debris.
Hulk froze, his fists still pressing against Peter's hands. A flicker of concern crossed his face.
Peter's arms trembled, muscles swelling and straining beneath his shirt, which began to stretch tight across his frame as he dug deeper into his strength.
His hazel-brown eyes started to shift, glowing into an electric, stormy blue. Static crackled around him, lifting strands of his hair skyward.
"Hulk," Peter said evenly, his voice carrying calm through the chaos, "Calm yourself…"
"I AM calm!" Hulk snapped back, though his ragged breaths and flaring nostrils betrayed him.
Peter exhaled slowly, never breaking eye contact. "Breathe… You're better than this. You don't need to kill him. He's already beaten. We've won."
The rain began to return, trickling softly at first before falling harder, matting Peter's hair against his forehead. His glowing eyes still burned bright beneath the strands, unwavering.
The Hulk's breathing slowed, his anger ebbing as he stared into Peter's steady gaze. But the fragile peace shattered when a jagged, mocking laughter rang inside all their heads.
"Hahahahahaha!!"
They turned toward the battered Leader, whose chest heaved in ragged bursts as he fought to speak through his pain.
"You think you've won?" his voice rasped and echoed telepathically, distorted and venomous. "Won?! Against me? Oh no… you small-minded fools… I am always steps ahead!"
The ground beneath them began to quake violently. In the distance, metal groaned, gears whirred, and the roar of massive rockets ignited.
A silo cracked open on the horizon, and a colossal missile erupted skyward, leaving a trail of fire and smoke that cut through the storm clouds.
Peter's voice sharpened. "Aria—what is that?"
She closed her eyes, reaching into the Leader's mind through the Mind Stone. Her lips curled into a disgusted sneer. "A Gamma Bomb. He's planning to detonate it in the upper atmosphere. The fallout would spread Gamma radiation across the entire world, turning everyone into monsters."
Hulk growled low, his massive fists tightening. "I say we kill him…"
Peter shook his head firmly, his tone like steel. "There are days I want to do exactly that when I see the evil people bring into the world… but we have to be better. Always better."
His gaze swept the team, voice rising with authority. "Aria—shut down his mind so he can't pull another stunt. Firestar—you're the radiation sponge here. Go after that missile before it reaches the atmosphere."
"On it!" they replied in unison.
Aria's gemstone pulsed with violet light. The Leader's defiant glare faltered as his mind was overwhelmed, his consciousness collapsing into a forced sleep.
Meanwhile, Lizzy's body erupted in blazing heat. With a single blast of propulsion flame, she streaked across the sky like a living comet, her fists glowing red-orange as she chased the ascending missile. The rocket continued to climb higher and higher, piercing the storm clouds above.
And Lizzy didn't slow down for a second.
"Um… why isn't she slowing down? What exactly is she planning?" Harry asked, his brows knitting with concern as he tracked Lizzy's blazing trail across the sky.
Gwen crossed her arms, shaking her head in disbelief. "Honestly, you should've just sent me. One touch and I could've frozen the whole thing in midair. No fireworks necessary."
Peter didn't even glance her way, his eyes still fixed on the rocket. "No," he said calmly, a faint smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth. "I sent her for a reason. I know exactly what she's about to do. And for what I have planned next… I need her to do it."
The others exchanged puzzled looks, but their attention was pulled skyward again as Lizzy closed the distance.
Her fist collided with the rocket's hull—and in an instant, the night lit up in a violent flash of neon green. The explosion drowned her in raw Gamma radiation, flooding the sky with an eerie emerald glow that spread through the clouds like a poisonous tide.
But instead of dispersing outward, the blast began to fold in on itself. Light and heat spiraled inward, being drawn toward a single point—toward her.
Through the haze, Lizzy's silhouette emerged, coiled and tense, her face contorted with focus. She was drinking in every shred of radiation, pulling it deep into herself. Her body glimmered with shifting green veins of light beneath her skin.
Then, with a sharp breath, she threw her arms wide and roared.
A shockwave burst from her in all directions, scattering the storm clouds and clearing the sky in seconds. Moonlight spilled across the battlefield, revealing her hovering in midair, her form now bathed in an unearthly, luminous green—less like flesh and blood, more like a living spirit forged from pure Gamma energy.
She drifted downward but stopped well short of the group, keeping her distance. "So… what exactly do I do with all this?" she asked, glancing at her glowing arms. "Just fly into space and let it all out?"
Peter shook his head. "No. We can use it for something good." He straightened, tone sharpening. "Because if the state finds out we were ultimately responsible for the destruction of one of their hidden bases—"
"What?!" Felicia cut in. "We had nothing to do with this! If anything, they should be thanking us! Because of us there weren't any casualties."
MJ's face darkened. "There were those six officers earlier…"
Felicia winced. "…Oh. Right. Forgot about them. Okay—correction: there weren't any casualties we could have prevented. We practically saved the world from becoming a Gamma zombie apocalypse."
Peter nodded, but his voice remained grim. "I know. But that's not how they'll see it. To them, we'll be part of the problem. Which is why we're going to make sure there's nothing left for them to blame us for."
He looked between Aria and Lizzy. "Aria, I need you to guide her—using her control over the weak and strong nuclear forces to help Firestar convert all that stored energy into matter. Then, manipulate that matter to recreate the entire military base exactly as it was."
Harry's head turned looking a little surprised, "Woah, would she actually be able to pull it off? That would be Hella impressive"
Peter tilted his head at Lizzy. "Think you can do it?"
Lizzy hesitated, then shrugged. "By myself? No way. I don't know the first thing about architecture. But with Aria helping…" Her eyes lit with determination. "I'd like to try."
A small grin crept over Peter's face. "Just know—if you do pull this off, your office hours at the base are going up."
Lizzy smirked back. "Great. Do I at least get overtime?"
"We'll see if I'm satisfied with the final product. Now get to work, my corporate slave." He snapped his fingers.
Lizzy rolled her eyes with a theatrical sigh and gave him a mock salute. "Aye aye, boss…"
Aria floated up to her, expression calm but focused. "You ready?"
Lizzy clenched her glowing fists, the air around her humming faintly. "As I'll ever be…"
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