New York in this world had suffered one disaster after another. Never mind the invisible evils lurking among the lower levels of society or the alien armies that would appear in the future—even the two green monsters currently brawling in the streets were enough to put the nearby citizens through hell.
Cars grabbed and hurled by the monsters, flames from exploding fuel, and bricks and rubble flying at high speed could all inflict fatal injuries on those ordinary, fragile New Yorkers. Touch them, and you died. Graze them, and you were injured.
In the midst of the crisis, the citizens could only scramble out of the cars lining the streets in a panic, crawling and stumbling as they fled. They did not even have time to close the doors.
Faced with the two green monsters locked in combat, they had no choice but to run!
Even while fleeing, unlucky people were occasionally crushed into bizarre shapes by lampposts or shattered car parts that came flying from nowhere. Others were pierced through the chest by fragments of steel from exploding cars, or flattened into meat paste by chunks of buildings falling from the sky. One fat man who ran a little too slowly was even seized by the head by the gray-green, skeletal Giant, then casually flung into the air. After a panicked scream, he hit the concrete with a bang and twitched for a while before going completely still...
No one wanted to stay any longer on the battlefield of those two monsters. Even the police and military had begun organizing a retreat!
It was obvious that the pistols, rifles, and other light weapons in their hands could not hurt the two monsters at all. As for heavy weapons, they did not dare use them freely in the city—unless someone was willing to take responsibility for leveling a huge portion of New York. Under the circumstances, all the police and soldiers could do was evacuate the civilians and run for their lives. Nothing happening here was a problem that ordinary humans or the military could solve.
However, unlike the others on the streets, who were desperately trying to flee as fast as possible, a sleazy-looking man hiding behind a steel dumpster was behaving rather strangely. Instead of retreating with the crowd, he kept peeking nervously from behind the dumpster at the two monsters fighting in the distance, muttering something under his breath.
Paul was a Mexican taxi driver who had been driving a cab in New York for many years. However, because he had originally entered the country illegally from Mexico, he had suffered and struggled for years. Thanks to his hard work and clean criminal record, he had only barely managed to obtain a green card not long ago.
Over the years, Paul had risen early and worked late, finally paying off the taxi company's predatory debt. Now, in addition to being debt-free, he had a taxi of his own. He still had no savings and no house, but life finally seemed to hold a little hope. He figured that perhaps, one day, he might even be able to bring his family to America to enjoy a better life.
His taxi looked rather battered. It might last another year or so before it needed an expensive overhaul and repairs. But where would the money come from? Paul was worried. If he could not afford to fix it, would he have to go back to driving for those bloodsuckers at the company? Oh, no! Paul swore he never wanted to face those evil capitalists again! Those damn bloodsuckers!
Perhaps God really was looking out for Paul. Right now, an opportunity that might solve his problems had appeared.
Just after Paul came out of a little burger shop carrying two paper bags stuffed with hamburgers and fries, he saw the two green monsters fighting. What nearly made his eyes pop out was the fact that they were smashing things around as well! They could actually throw cars around like rubber balls? And, as luck would have it, Paul's battered taxi was parked right beside the two fighting monsters!
"Oh, God! Praise You!"
Paul widened his eyes and watched the battle in the distance from behind a metal dumpster, excitement filling his gaze. Only two words remained in his mind: insurance! Insurance! Insurance!
As long as the two monsters smashed his car, he had an excellent chance of receiving a huge payout—enough to buy a brand-new taxi! As far as he was concerned, if he could make an insurance claim, then that air-conditioningless wreck could go to hell! An overhaul? Bah!
"Oh, boy! Go on, step on it already!!"
Paul's car was right beside the two green monsters grappling with each other. Yet, miraculously, it had remained completely unharmed until now!
The skeletal Hulk casually tore a car free and hurled it at the muscular Hulk. The muscular Hulk punched it away, sending it flying just over Paul's taxi and into the plate-glass window of an ice cream shop in the distance—wrecking it.
Seeing this, the skeletal Hulk tore up another car beside Paul's taxi and threw it at the muscular Hulk again. Once more, a punch sent it flying. It struck the exact same spot as the previous car and triggered an explosion! Flames and thick smoke began to rage through the area. It seemed that whoever was inside had probably met a grim fate!
Paul, however, did not care about any of that. After the skeletal Hulk's two cars had been punched away, it tried the same trick again, reaching for Paul's taxi. But before it could grab it, the enraged muscular Hulk charged over, wrapped its arms around the skeletal Hulk's waist, and sent them both flying. The two monsters rolled into the distance, snapping several lampposts and crushing and wrecking several cars beneath them.
"Oh, no! God! No! You can't do this to me..."
Paul clutched his head with both hands and fell to his knees in agony. He watched the two monsters fight farther and farther away, while his own car remained perfectly intact where it had been parked! It had not suffered a single scratch!
Paul knew that trying to file an insurance claim under these circumstances was a pipe dream. Forget it! He would not get a single cent. For all he knew, those sly, deceitful insurance agents might even make him pay next year's premium at the same time.
This was terrible! The insurance payout that had been within Paul's grasp was gone! So was the money for a new car! And he still had no idea where he would get the money for repairs and maintenance!
"God! What did I do wrong? Why are You doing this to me?"
Paul despaired. He covered his face with two dirt-covered hands. A huge insurance payout had once been right before him, and he had thought the money was about to be his. He had never expected it to be such a cruel joke from God.
"Roar~!!!"
A tremendous roar rang out. Paul, still in despair, had just raised his head when he saw a gigantic toy bear covered in flames descend from the sky. It stood half a body taller than the two green monsters and crushed Paul's taxi into a heap of scrap metal beneath its feet. Flames leaking from the cracks in the toy bear's body even ignited several nearby cars. The heat distorted the air into boiling, wavering ripples that Paul could clearly feel even from a distance. Once the cars caught fire, it was not long before violent gasoline explosions followed.
"Roar~!!"
After the explosion, the huge Flame Giant Bear landed and roared again. Then it looked toward the two Hulks in the distance. Their fight had stopped, but they were still tangled together, their two green faces staring at the Flame Giant Bear that had descended from the sky. Their rage-filled minds could not make sense of the situation for the moment. They had no idea what this newly appeared, clearly dangerous Flame Giant Bear was supposed to be.
Paul, hiding behind the dumpster, first stared blankly at the flaming toy bear. Then he blinked and looked at the taxi beneath its feet, already burned into scrap metal. Without a word, he got up, turned, and ran. As he fled, he shouted, "Praise God!!!"
Paul now felt that God truly loved all equally and had not treated him differently just because he almost never went to church.
Paul swore that once he received the money and bought a new car, he would go to church every week without fail! Well, if once a week was impossible, then at least once a month?
"Get them, Tibbers! Tear them apart!!!"
A clear little girl's voice rang out behind him. It was especially distinct amid this chaotic, terrifying battlefield, but no one noticed it—not even Paul!
What mattered more to them was getting away from this hell as quickly as possible. Every additional second they stayed meant another second of danger! Life was precious to the citizens of New York. To them, two monsters fighting or three monsters fighting made little difference!
"Roar~!!!"
After the little girl's voice rang out amid the explosions, the Flame Giant Bear began roaring furiously. The three monsters plunged into a chaotic battle...
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