Marvel: The Enlightened One-Chapter 83: [] - Ross, Dead! Abomination, Dead! (Bonus)

Chapter 83: [83] - Ross, Dead! Abomination, Dead! (Bonus)

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"You know, I almost forgot about you."

Hawk’s voice was a low, contemplative murmur, yet it cut through the tense silence. He stared down at the man thrashing uselessly beneath the sole of his shoe.

"If you hadn’t been so obsessed with hunting the Hulk, the Abomination never would have come to New York City."

"If the Abomination hadn’t come to New York City, then the battle between him and the Hulk never would have happened..."

"And if that battle hadn’t happened..."

"My sister wouldn’t have died."

His words built methodically toward an inevitable conclusion—cold, calculated, and absolutely damning.

A slow, chilling smile spread across Hawk’s face.

"Thank you for reminding me that you were a part of this, too."

General Ross, who had been struggling beneath his foot, suddenly went still, as if he finally understood.

Hawk’s eyes were like ice.

"Wait—"

SQUELCH!

Hawk brought his right foot down. A spray of red, like crushed watermelon, spread out from under his blue sneaker—a shoe that had cost less than thirty dollars, but one he had worn and cherished for years.

General Thaddeus Ross.

Dead.

No more words. Hawk had no intention of listening to Ross’s bullshit, nor did he feel the need to give him the chance to speak.

He just needed to be dead.

...

Behind him, Maria Hill, who had just arrived on the scene after rushing from the Triskelion, froze—her gaze fixed on the blue sneaker that had just crushed General Ross’s skull.

Hawk lifted his foot and wiped the sole on the tattered uniform on the ground. He then turned from the headless corpse and faced the newcomer.

A face with sharp, clean lines. Ice-blue eyes. A perfectly tailored S.H.I.E.L.D. combat uniform.

A name came to Hawk’s mind—

"Maria Hill."

"..." Maria Hill snapped back to the present, meeting his gaze. She took a deep breath.

"That’s me..."

Hawk slipped his hands into his pockets and gave a slight smile to the woman who had the balls to approach him alone after that display. "Can I help you?"

"You’ve killed General Ross. What—"

"He got what he deserved." Hawk’s eyes narrowed, cutting her off. "Tell me, Ms. Hill, if it was your sister who had died, what would you do?"

Maria Hill paused, not answering the question. She simply looked at him. "Ross is dead. What are your plans now?"

"My plans?"

"Yes." Maria Hill nodded, holding his gaze.

Internally, she was cursing Nick Fury.

She and everyone else at S.H.I.E.L.D had a clear view of Hawk destroying tanks with his bare hands and kicking fighter jets out of the sky.

Logically, Nick Fury should have been the one to come here, not her.

But the moment the situation had escalated, Fury had gone dark.

No calls, no texts, no satellite tracking. He had simply vanished.

Which left her, the Deputy Director, to clean up the mess.

And she was now almost certain of one thing:

Fury’s sudden reinstatement and Ross’s uncanny ability to track Hawk down were connected. Fury must have traded Hawk’s location for Ross’s political support.

Unfortunately... Ross was now dead.

Maria Hill’s eyes flicked for a split second to the headless corpse at Hawk’s feet before quickly looking away.

Hawk listened to her question and just shook his head with a small smile. "Ms. Hill, what happens next isn’t up to me. It’s up to you."

Maria Hill processed his words.

"Ross is dead. You can leave." It was an offer. An unofficial truce. S.H.I.E.L.D. would look the other way.

"Not enough."

"What?"

"The Abomination. Hand him over." Hawk’s expression was flat, his voice leaving no room for negotiation.

He understood what she was offering.

Ross was dead, so he could walk away and everyone would pretend this never happened. But the Abomination was still breathing...

Hawk’s eyes shifted to the command center, where the VIPs were frozen at the doorway—afraid to step outside. "You know the drill. One minute. Either you give me the Abomination, or you’re all dead."

...

The moment he spoke, the VIPs erupted into a panic. "Dammit, where’s the Abomination?"

"He’s in the underground cell!"

"Let him out! Let him out now!"

"Hurry! We’ve only got thirty seconds!"

Hawk listened to the tearful, panicked screaming and snorted in disgust. He turned back to Maria Hill and shook his head with something like pity.

"I guarantee you those are the same guys who backed Ross when he came after me. Probably thought I was just some nobody they could squash. Now that I’m standing here, they’re shitting themselves because they know I could crush them like the insects they are."

Maria Hill watched him. "Are you going to kill them?"

"Depends."

"On...?"

"I don’t start fights, but I finish them."

Hawk looked at Maria Hill and smiled. "See, Ms. Hill? You’re standing right here, perfectly fine."

As he spoke...

THUD!

The ground shook violently. A section of the earth shattered, and a monstrous creature, even uglier than the Hulk, clawed its way to the surface.

It was the Abomination.

But...

The second his cell’s electronic locks failed, he’d smashed his way out without hesitation. Breaking through to the surface, he was ready to roar and announce his return to the world—but the sight in front of him stopped him cold.

Burning vehicles, exploded tanks, downed fighter jets, and nothing but destruction and bodies as far as he could see.

What the hell happened?

Is it the end of the world??

The Abomination was completely baffled. After a moment, his gaze was drawn to the small ant of a man standing with his back to him.

A cruel smile spread across the Abomination’s face.

If the Hulk was a creature of reluctant self-defense, the Abomination was a creature of wanton destruction. The man he had been was a soldier, obsessed with power. The monster was no different.

And so, the Abomination attacked.

...

"ROARRRRRRRRRRR!"

With a roar of pure fury, the Abomination charged forward. After a few thundering steps, it launched itself skyward, its massive frame blocking out the sun, a twisted grin spreading across its face as it plummeted down to crush the tiny figure into paste.

Hawk didn’t move. His gaze was still locked on Maria Hill.

Hill, out of the corner of her eye, saw the monster descending like a living meteor. The sheer pressure of its descent sent a shockwave across the ground, cracking the already shattered concrete.

She stood her ground, refusing to back down or look away from the man in front of her. Her eyes stayed locked on Hawk’s.

Hawk looked at Maria Hill, felt the storm about to break, and smiled. Then he turned and threw a punch.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

The Abomination’s chest caved in.

A thunderous crack split the air as it was launched backward like a cannonball of flesh and bone. It crashed into a burning tank.

CRASH!

The Abomination’s massive body finally came to rest in a pile of rubble, and the three burning tanks that had been dragged along with him crashed down on top.

Fire doesn’t discriminate.

The Abomination’s hulking frame was instantly swallowed by flames, and the sickening sound of burning flesh filled the air.

The Abomination.

Dead.

He had appeared and died in the same instant. Just one punch, and the fight was over.

He’d already taken down the Hulk. If some creature that couldn’t even beat the Hulk had actually given him trouble, what would that say about him?

Would it be an insult to the Hulk? Or an insult to his Cosmo?

Unlike the Hulk, the Abomination’s body didn’t change back to human form as the flames devoured it. After all, Bruce Banner had been transformed by gamma radiation exposure.

Emil Blonsky had injected the gamma serum straight into his bloodstream. Simply put, the Abomination and Emil Blonsky were permanently fused—there was no going back.

...

After throwing the punch, Hawk didn’t give the Abomination another glance. He turned back to Maria Hill.

To him, she was the far more interesting creature here.

Maria Hill’s mind was replaying the image of Hawk killing the Abomination with one casual punch, but she kept her expression perfectly calm.

"What now?"

"What do you think?" Hawk stuffed his hands back in his pockets, his gaze level with hers.

Maria Hill met his gaze, her mind spinning as she recalculated everything she thought she knew. "The Hulk is dead, the Abomination is dead, and Ross is dead. The three people responsible for your sister’s death are all gone now."

"They are..."

"Go home."

"HAHAHAHAHAHA." Hawk burst out laughing at her words. It was a laugh filled with derision.

Maria Hill’s heart skipped a beat.

Nearby, the VIPs, still frozen in the doorway began to tremble at the sound of his laughter.

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