Marvel: Superman Strength in a World of Heroes

Carl and Tony Stark immediately noticed the shift in the crowd's reaction.

After all,

The terrified civilians who had been fleeing in panic just moments ago...

...were now standing still, staring back in awe.

Some had even started to cheer.

The contrast was... a bit too obvious.

『Tony Stark』: "Oh."

He shrugged casually.

『Tony Stark』: "Well, you're not wrong, I am the righteous hero. But, uh... I wasn't the one who took out that monster."

『Carl』: "If you really want to, you could say it was you."

To Carl, taking out the Abomination wasn't exactly something to brag about.

『Tony Stark』: "Huh? Why would I..."

He blinked, confused.

『Carl』: "No reason."

Carl gave a slight smile, he'd just sensed something approaching.

『Carl』: "A big one's coming."

『Tony Stark』: "A big one?"

He looked over, puzzled, not quite catching Carl's tone.

Carl only smiled, saying nothing.

BOOM, BOOM, BOOM!

Just then,

A deep, thunderous sound reached their ears.

It was like something colossal was barreling down the road.

『Tony Stark』: "Jarvis, what's going on?"

His tone turned serious.

『Jarvis』: "Accessing nearby surveillance now..."

But,

Before Jarvis could finish, Tony already had his answer.

He saw it with his own eyes.

Not far away,

A massive figure was charging toward them.

It was like a moving mountain.

Roughly the same size as the Abomination lying motionless on the ground.

Except,

This one had green skin.

And despite its towering frame, it moved with almost human-like proportions.

Far less grotesque than the Abomination Carl had killed earlier.

But still...

Definitely not normal.

No human on Earth should look like that.

At the very least,

『Tony Stark』 had never seen anything like it before.

『Tony Stark』: "Mr. Superman, what do we do?"

『Carl』: "What do we do...? Hmm..."

He responded absentmindedly.

『Carl』: "Why don't you go deal with him?"

Carl had seen enough superhero movies in his previous life.

He knew a fair bit about the Avengers.

And he knew the Hulk, this particular green giant, was one of the more tragic heroes.

His powers came from gamma radiation.

And ever since, he'd been hunted by General Ross like a criminal.

He'd been on the run for years.

Even his girlfriend had moved on and found someone new.

If Carl remembered correctly,

After the Abomination incident...

The Hulk would once again go into hiding.

Living a low-key, anonymous life.

And he wouldn't reappear until years later...

When Loki returned to Earth and the Avengers finally assembled.

So, yeah,

It'd be years before this guy was seen again.

And who knows what his ex-girlfriend was doing by then?

Later on, he'd even get entangled with Black Widow.

Although,

Carl wasn't particularly fond of the Hulk.

He didn't hate him either.

He had no intention of killing the guy.

Which is why,

He had no plan to step in right now.

But Tony Stark didn't know any of this.

So the moment he saw the Hulk charging,

His instincts kicked in, and he launched an immediate attack.

『Tony Stark』: "Let's see how you handle this!"

He raised his hand and unleashed several repulsor blasts.

BOOM-BOOM-BOOM!

The palm cannons fired in rapid succession.

But,

The Hulk simply raised an arm and swatted them aside like flies.

The blasts had no effect whatsoever.

In fact,

They only pissed him off.

"RAAAAAHHH!!"

The Hulk's eyes bulged with rage as he let out a deafening roar.

Then he surged forward, moving even faster.

『Tony Stark』: "What the hell is this thing?!"

Tony cursed under his breath.

The Mark III armor wasn't just a flashy upgrade.

It was built with aerospace alloys,

Reinforced durability, enhanced flight capabilities, and massively upgraded firepower.

Not only did it have repulsors and laser tech,

It was also loaded with micro-missiles.

Seeing his standard attacks fail,

『Tony Stark』: "Fine. Time for the big guns."

He prepared to launch the shoulder-mounted micro-missiles.

These were no toys.

Capable of destroying tanks with ease.

『Tony Stark』 figured they'd be more than enough for a giant like this.

He locked onto the Hulk,

Ready to fire.

Off to the side,

Carl watched with mild curiosity.

『Carl』 (thinking): With Tony's current tech level...

...he still shouldn't be able to kill the Hulk.

Not now.

Not even in the later movies.

So Carl made no move to intervene.

Tony, meanwhile, focused entirely on his target.

With Jarvis's help, he got a clean lock-on in seconds.

But just as he was about to launch the missile,

He hesitated.

Something was wrong.

『Tony Stark』: "...Wait."

His eyes narrowed.

There were civilians nearby.

They weren't that close to the Hulk...

But they were still within the missile's blast radius.

Even if they were "micro" missiles, they still had serious spread.

『Tony Stark』: "Damn it!"

Gritting his teeth, he canceled the launch.

But the delay had already cost him.

Danger crept closer.

Because,

Tony and the Hulk weren't that far apart to begin with.

And now, with the Hulk enraged and charging...

The gap had closed rapidly.

『Tony Stark』: "Crap, !"

The Hulk was right in front of him.

Tony tried to react quickly,

He shot upward, trying to escape into the air.

He knew that close combat with this brute was a terrible idea.

The Iron Man suit surged skyward.

WHOOSH!

He barely dodged the Hulk's swing, escaping by a hair.

He soared several meters into the sky.

『Tony Stark』: "Whew... That was close."

He climbed higher, exhaling in relief.

Then prepped his shoulder-mounted bullets.

But before he could fire,

He looked down...

And saw the Hulk.

The green giant roared,

Then leapt straight into the air.

『Tony Stark』: "Come on, that's gotta be 30, maybe 40 meters!"

He scoffed from inside the helmet.

『Tony Stark』: "No way you're making that leap..."

But before he could finish the sentence,

The smirk vanished from his face.

His expression froze.

Because what he saw,

Was the Hulk's enormous frame closing the distance.

Rapidly.

Which meant,

The Hulk was ascending faster than he was.

『Tony Stark』: "That's impossible!"

He was in a Mark III Iron Man suit!

Capable of matching F-22 fighter jets in flight!

And this green brute was outpacing him!?

『Tony Stark』: "Jarvis! Give me more speed!"

He shouted, seeing the Hulk's hand just inches away.

『Jarvis』: "Sir, we are already at maximum velocity."

『Tony Stark』: "...Shit!"

And then,

He watched in disbelief as the Hulk's massive hand came within five centimeters of his leg.

But just as contact seemed inevitable,

The impossible happened.

The Hulk,

Suddenly plummeted.

Like a rocket running out of fuel.

He dropped out of the sky, fast.