The moment Loki saw the two towering monsters—one red, one green—his whole body trembled involuntarily.
What an infuriating feeling!
Some voice in the darkness whispered:
"Don't let them get close. Absolutely not!"
If they did… his legendary rep as the God of Mischief? Ruined.
"By Odin!" Thor exclaimed. "Those two are stronger than Frost Giants!"
Looking up at the two Gamma beasts in the distance, Thor couldn't help but be genuinely awed.
Even Hela, the undisputed power ceiling among the Asgardian siblings, furrowed her brows.
"Hela, you see those two monsters, right?"
Just as the words left Thor's mouth, Dante—still fully transformed into his Red Lantern form—flew down from the FBI HQ rooftop, landing right next to her. A few floating blood flames trailed behind him, giving him that "walking hazard sign" energy.
"They're mine. I'm not letting you steal My opponents."
"My dear Queen, don't even think about it." Hela gave a wicked smile. "One each… I call dibs on the red one."
Dante smirked. "Fine. The green one's mine."
Before Hela could respond, he rocketed toward Hulk, no hesitation whatsoever.
Thor opened his mouth, ready to fight for the red one himself—but after one look at his big sister's icy glare, he wisely shut it and stuck to beating up HYDRA's foot soldiers with Loki.
"Alas…"
Thor sighed and tried to comfort himself.
There'd be more boss fights in the future. Probably.
Seeing Loki standing dazed not far off, Thor kicked off and flew straight at him—
WHACK!
A palm came down hard on Loki's head.
"Damn it, Thor! Why'd you hit me?!"
"You're really gonna just stand there instead of helping me wipe out HYDRA's grunts?"
This… this is the sibling hierarchy.
Get bullied by big sis? Don't fight back—just go bully your little brother instead.
---
Truth be told, Dante was a little impressed by this version of HYDRA.
They were way more competent than the originals.
Sure, in the canon timeline, HYDRA was always hyped as this ancient evil cabal…
But in practice? Trash.
Especially in the power department—they were always underwhelming. They treated Winter Soldier like a cheat card, when really he was just an edgy B-list assassin.
Honestly, HYDRA and their so-called "strength" existed only on paper.
But here?
They'd mastered the art of mass-producing Winter Soldiers and even managed to get the drop on him. That was not easy.
A squad of these enhanced agents was nothing to sneeze at. If it weren't for the three Asgardian siblings and the FBI Academy brats, HYDRA might've actually pulled off their goal of "crippling an entire nation in a matter of hours."
And the number of HYDRA troops they unleashed? Totally unprecedented.
Clearly, they wanted to go all in. One strike to win the war.
Same as Dante's plan.
But what he never expected was that HYDRA actually created two super Winter Soldiers…
Hulk and Red Hulk!
He'd been wondering why those two hadn't shown up yet.
Turns out HYDRA had already bagged and brainwashed them.
Sure, Hulks were walking nukes—but they had a universal flaw…
They were emotionally unstable and prone to mind control.
And no one did brainwashing better than HYDRA, short of telepaths.
So, after paying some price, they managed to get both Hulk and Red Hulk on a leash.
And maybe they didn't even pay that much.
Bruce Banner? Just a squishy science guy when he's not green. Easy pickings.
General Ross? Sure, he's a U.S. Air Force Lieutenant General, but compared to HYDRA's black ops? He's standard fare.
So unleashing the Hulks now? Clearly HYDRA's final gamble.
Because if they weren't the trump card… Dante didn't want to know what was.
Like… Loki Chthon?
That guy was the Big Bad behind Madame Hydra, and his power rivaled Gaia's. No way he'd act just to back up some washed-up spy syndicate.
"HULK! SMASH! DESTROY EVERYTHING!"
Hulk, now decked out in a modded Winter Soldier uniform, was rampaging at full tilt.
And this Hulk? He'd picked up some basic combat technique from the Winter Soldier playbook.
So yes, apparently even Hulk could learn a few moves.
This was Dante's first time facing Hulk directly.
Even with all his stacked abilities—Loki's constitution included—he wasn't sure he could take Hulk head-on.
So he activated:
Diamond Form.
Unstoppable Incarnation of Power.
With high-speed flight and pure force, Dante smashed into Hulk like a crimson comet, carrying them both out of the city in an instant.
As they crashed into the distant suburbs, Dante even glanced Hela's way—yep, she had the same idea. She lured Red Hulk away from the main battlefield, too.
After all, fighting Gamma monsters in the city? Recipe for disaster.
Hulk, though caught off guard, had freakish reflexes. He still managed to swing a hammer blow at Dante's back during the flight.
But thanks to Unstoppable Incarnation of Power, Dante powered through the hit and drove Hulk deep into a suburban mountain crater.
He flipped out of the crater, wincing as he stretched his back.
What now?
How the hell do you deal with this guy?
As Dante pondered, a terrible idea popped into his head.
Hulk clambered out of the crater, pissed off and looking stronger than ever.
Winter Soldier uniform? Ripped. Rage meter? Maxed.
But Dante, straining to keep his voice calm, took a deep breath and tried the oldest trick in the MCU book.
"Hey, big guy…"
"The sun's getting real low…"
He slowly reached out a hand, signaling peace.
Hulk froze.
His expression went… blank.
Then, slowly, he reached out—and placed his massive hand on Dante's.
And then?
He smiled.
A charmingly evil smile.
OH NO.
SLAM.
SLAM.
SLAM SLAM SLAM SLAM SLAM SLAM SLAM SLAM.
Dante got ragdolled eight times in a row.
What the hell?!
Loki's physical constitution! It's cursed!
And this Hulk actually knows how to fake out?!
Luckily, Dante summoned a Red Lantern energy barrier mid-smash and took no real damage.
But emotionally?
He wanted to scream.
Why the hell did I try that dumb move?!
What if Hulk hadn't gone WWE-mode and instead pulled a "Hulk X Black Widow" moment? He shuddered.
(To be continued.)
***
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