Even though John Garrett had long been looked down on by other HYDRA leaders for both his tactics and overall performance
He was still one of their top dogs.
He had enough pull to mobilize troops and Winter Soldiers, and more importantly, he knew about the Super Winter Soldier Program.
Those two terrifying trump cards—one green, one red—had once been HYDRA's ultimate monsters.
And now?
That very same green monster had just come stomping out of a portal summoned by Dante.
What the hell?!
This wasn't how it was supposed to go!
Why did the Super Winter Soldier betray HYDRA?
What the hell was that red-and-black battlesuit?
What was that insignia on his chest?
Did he just—did he just spit fire!?
Since when could the Hulk breathe fire!?
A thousand questions slammed into John Garrett's brain like a mental traffic jam.
But it didn't matter.
He didn't have time to answer a single one.
In his peripheral vision, he caught a glimpse of his own body falling.
And then—
Darkness.
Total, permanent, final.
Dante had vaporized Garrett's neck with a precise blast of heat vision.
Just like he said: the man died with his eyes wide open.
Then Dante tossed Garrett's severed head aside and watched with some genuine admiration as Hulk, now fully initiated into the Red Lantern Corps unleashed hell.
Honestly?
Hulk was the most perfect Red Lantern in existence.
Rage-fueled power? Check.
Exponential strength scaling with anger? Check.
Practically zero upper limit? Check.
Now layered with Rage Light energy?
Yeah. Broken.
He was basically a mobile, self-feeding apocalypse in pants.
The only way to stop him would be with some reality-warping, concept-erasing cosmic god—because short of that?
You're toast.
Granted, Dante had managed to beat him earlier using both Green and Red Lantern Rings simultaneously, but that was only because Hulk hadn't peaked in anger yet.
In a war of attrition?
Hulk wins. Every time.
Right now, the new Red Lantern Hulk was charging through the HYDRA ranks.
To say it was a tiger among sheep would be a massive understatement.
More like… an elephant breakdancing in a termite colony.
The four remaining Winter Soldiers lasted all of five seconds.
Hulk ripped one in half, barehanded.
The second was roasted by a fireball of furious blood-flame straight to the face.
The other two?
Hulk just grabbed them and started swinging them around like twin clubs in a Dynasty Warriors bonus stage.
When it was all over?
Every HYDRA soldier was down, and the two "weapons" in Hulk's hands were now tattered meatbags.
Dante hit the door release and casually booted John Garrett's corpse and head out the front.
"Don't dirty my nice FBI flooring," he muttered.
"Hulk, burn the rest. No sense wasting our budget on corpse disposal."
"HULK FIRE!"
The green giant thumped his chest like a child showing off a toy and blasted another wave of flaming rage from his mouth.
He was clearly fascinated by his new ability.
And had already named it.
Because of course he did.
Like a kid naming a stick "Ultimate Justice Sword."
"Dante... what... is this exactly?"
Coulson's voice wavered as he watched Hulk incinerate HYDRA's remains.
The visuals were a lot to take in.
"Oh, right. This is Hulk. Civilian name: Bruce Banner. Gamma radiation specialist. Holder of seven PhDs—nuclear physics, radiation physics, biochemistry, engineering, robotics, computer science, and math."
"…Is he trying to use PhD diplomas to prop up a table or something?"
"Geniuses like to prove things. Why else does Stark keep reinventing his own armor?"
"…Fair point."
Dante nodded, but deep down?
He much preferred Hulk to Banner.
The two personalities were opposite sides of the same coin, really.
Savage Hulk was basically Banner's childlike core, made flesh.
Even the Lantern Ring recognized them as one lifeform in two minds.
Banner wanted to be a scientist.
Hulk didn't even know what a "hero" was. He just wanted a full stomach and someone to punch.
Two extremes locked in one body.
Kind of poetic. And kind of sad.
While Dante reflected on the green tragedy, Skye was practically vibrating with excitement.
Let's not forget—this was a girl who once pried the emblem off Tony Stark's car in the Stark Tower parking lot just to have a souvenir.
She was that much of a superhero fangirl.
"Green monster defeats HYDRA's evil plot! That's straight-up classic superhero material!"
Dante sighed, ruffling Skye's hair.
Then he reached into his pocket and pulled out a shimmering purple crystal.
"Here. This is for you."
"Wait… you're giving me a crystal?" Skye blinked. "Dante, I'm not one of those girls you can bribe with shiny rocks. You could at least wrap it in platinum and call it a ring."
"Stop talking." Dante stuffed the terrigen crystal into her palm. Then leaned in close and whispered, "Break this when you're alone. Trust me—you'll thank me later."
---
HYDRA's entire operation to take down the FBI?
A massive, flaming failure.
Yes, they managed to launch the three Helicarriers.
But the Project Insight they were supposed to run?
Fake.
Instead, HYDRA had sent in Winter Soldier prototype Bucky Barnes, carrying Arnim Zola's consciousness storage device, hoping to have him upload Zola directly into the Helicarriers.
No preloaded targeting system? No problem—they'd just build one from scratch.
Would've worked too...
If Bucky hadn't bumped into Tony Stark and Steve Rogers, who arrived together.
The moment Steve saw the eyeliner-smeared hobo version of his childhood friend?
He didn't hesitate.
He instantly whipped out his shield and went for the face.
Jarvis, after scanning Bucky's identity, updated Tony.
"Captain, this is your childhood best friend."
Tony's eyebrows shot up. "Damn, Cap, maybe don't smash his jaw in just yet?"
Steve snapped. "He's brainwashed. You think I'm gonna stand here yelling, 'I believe in you!' like some idiot from a TV show? First, we knock him out. Then we talk. After the war."
Then he promptly kicked Bucky in the nuts.
"Lie down, best damn brother!"
Tony paused.
Then nodded, impressed.
Lesson learned: Never one-on-one if you can two-on-one.
He joined in.
And together, Cap and Iron Man beat Bucky Barnes senseless.
They even ripped off his mechanical arm as a team finisher.
And Zola's precious consciousness storage?
Smashed to shards by Steve mid-fight.
Tragic.
Truly tragic.
---
Meanwhile, in the Helicarrier command center.
Tony, through Jarvis and his own backdoors, fully took over the three Helicarriers' systems.
He shut down all the weapons.
Just like that.
Nick Fury watched the whole thing unfold, tears nearly welling up.
"Motherf***er," he muttered. "That was taxpayer money…"
Standing nearby, Alexander Pierce made a last-ditch play.
He pulled a controller from his pocket.
"Don't move, Fury! I push this button, and the special brooches worn by the World Security Council will burn holes through their hearts."
Cue instant political panic.
"Alexander Pierce! You psychopath!"
"HYDRA only knows how to play terrorist!"
"Nick! Save us! If we die, you'll be brought before the Tribunal!"
Fury… didn't even blink.
He actually looked more upset when the Helicarriers got shut down.
"Pierce, I used to consider you a family…"
Fury slowly raised his pistol.
He wasn't smiling.
He wasn't bluffing.
"But we don't compromise."
"They're from other nations—"
"So?" Fury narrowed his eye. "They stood up to HYDRA, resisted to the bitter end. I'll tell the World Federation they were heroes. I'll even put up a fancy-ass monument for them."
And then?
BANG.
He shot Alexander Pierce in the heart.
Reflexively, Pierce hit the button.
Multiple brooches activated.
Several high-profile political corpses hit the floor.
But Fury?
Unbothered.
In fact, he kinda wanted to laugh.
He could've gone for a headshot.
But why waste the opportunity?
Let the fame-hungry suits die as "martyrs."
Then, as he looked down at Pierce's still-warm corpse, Fury pulled out a dusty old pager.
"Good thing we had Dante. Otherwise…" he said softly, "I really would've had to call you back."
(To be continued.)
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