CHAPTER 23

Bruce Banner crashed into the Harlem street in an explosion of asphalt and dirt, leaving a very deep, rough hole in the pavement.

Down the street, the Abomination was inflicting terrible destruction on the city, and civilians running from his path dodged the hole in the ground from all directions.

A mighty green hand and arm rose up and grabbed the hole’s ragged edge, crushing the street with its grip. The Hulk emerged from the ground.

All around were police lights flashing, people running, sirens blaring, and explosions detonating in the distance. A police chopper aimed its spotlight on the Abomination down the street. The Hulk staggered, unable to stand the sensory overload of a city in chaos.

But then the Hulk closed his eyes, grimacing against the madness. He strained, all his muscles flexing, and he let out a roar, shaking his head to clear it.

Now he could concentrate on his target: the Abomination—the enemy.

The Hulk stood tall and bellowed at his adversary, his roar shaking the street.

The Abomination turned around and saw the Hulk. His gray eyes shimmered with malicious recognition. “Hulk,” he growled.

Hurtling toward each other, the two giants collided so powerfully that the windows of the surrounding storefronts shattered. A theater’s marquee exploded into a fountain of sparks. The Abomination tackled the Hulk, knocking him off his feet, and they tumbled down the street toward Broadway, ripping up the asphalt as they rolled. The Abomination got his feet first and flung Hulk away. The force of the impact on the ground staggered the Hulk, who took a moment to recover his senses. Just then, the Abomination approached, striding through the fires blazing in the wrecked cars that littered the street.

“Come on,” the Abomination said, beckoning.

The Hulk turned to a police car abandoned nearby. Its wailing siren irritated him. He smashed it down flat and then tore it in half, holding the two halves, as he had held the pieces of the sculpture the last time he’d faced Blonsky. He charged at the Abomination and began to beat him with the pieces of the car. The Abomination lost his balance and landed on his back. The Hulk pounded him with the car until it came apart, then pounded him with his fists. The pavement was cracked and caved in all around them.

The Abomination turned his head and spat. Then he said, “Is that all you’ve got?”

The Hulk reared back to deliver another punch, and the Abomination got his revenge for the fight in the field. He kicked the Hulk so hard that Hulk’s flying body punched straight through the nearest building.

The Abomination rumbled down the street, accelerated like a long jumper, and soared up into the side of the first building, digging massive handholds into the bricks as he scaled the apartment. When he got to the hole left by the Hulk’s body, he could see to the street on the other side.

Above them, the helicopter buzzed low over Harlem. General Ross and Betty watched the battle from the copter. Betty gasped as she saw the Hulk crash through the building and come down behind it, pulverizing a large waste container when he landed.

General Ross peered down from the helicopter over the gunner’s narrow shoulder, narrowing his eyes as he saw the Abomination climbing. “Use that weapon, soldier!” Ross ordered the gunner. “Give him some help!”

“Which one?” the gunner asked.

“Shoot that one climbing the wall!” Ross retorted. “Which one do you think?”

Tracer fire streaked down in the dark as the gunner blasted the helicopter’s cannon down at the Abomination. Bricks exploded around the climbing creature.

The Abomination managed to reach the rooftop, where the gunner had a clearer shot. Cannon rounds streaked down at him, ripping up the roof. Some of the rounds ricocheted off the Abomination’s platelike bones, but others stung him enough to slow him down… a little.

The Abomination headed for a water tower, sprinting across the roof with the helicopter tight overhead. Betty clung to the helicopter’s ramp as it accelerated to keep up.

Down in the alley, the Hulk heard the sound of firing above. He shook himself, growled, and then bounced off the close walls of the alley, scaling the space parkour-style.

When he reached the top, he jumped onto the remaining fire escape and pulled himself onto the roof.

The helicopter hovered to his left, raining cannon fire down on the Abomination’s back. The Abomination changed course, sprinting toward the helicopter as the Hulk got to the rooftop. The Abomination ran to the edge of the building and jumped. Up on the ramp, Betty’s eyes widened in fear. If the Abomination hit the chopper, it would never survive the impact.

The Hulk sprinted across the roof toward the Abomination and and lunged just as the creature jumped. He caught the Abomination’s legs, dragging him down so that all the beast could do was catch hold of one of the helicopter’s landing skids. The machine lurched and spun around as the pilot tried to keep control with an extra two tons of the Hulk and the Abomination struggling below.

“I can’t hold it!” the pilot shouted. “I’ve got to put it down!”

Betty lurched across the rear ramp, barely managing to hang on. They had gotten close to the Grayburn College campus again. The helicopter spun and pitched in the air. Below it, the Hulk and the Abomination collided with rooftop cisterns and the corners of buildings.

The helicopter was going to crash. The rear rotor had failed, and it was a miracle it hadn’t gone down in flames already. Inside the copter, Ross hung on to his chair, his jaw set firmly.

Betty closed her eyes.