In this brief lull forcibly created by Black Bolt's strike, the danger had not passed.
The red glow in Hulk's eyes had only faded slightly. The corrupted whispers from the Abyss, like maggots clinging to bone, surged back into his frenzied mind.
"They... fear you... want to cage you... tear them apart!"
Hulk shook his head, scratched by metal fragments, a low growl rumbling from his throat.
His scarlet gaze locked onto Susan and Reed, who stood closest to him.
"Hulk! Smash!" he roared, breaking free from several slabs of concrete loosened by the collapsing building. His massive body launched forward again, charging toward Mister Fantastic and the Invisible Woman!
Thing roared as he rushed to meet him, trying to block Hulk with his rocky body.
"Big guy! Wake up!"
But at this moment, Hulk's strength, fueled by both corruption and rage, had surpassed its usual limits.
With a simple, unadorned straight punch, he struck Thing's crossed arms. Amid a terrifyingly dull impact, the stone-skinned hero known for his strength was knocked clean off his feet and sent flying backward, embedded directly into the crumbling wall behind him as rubble showered down.
"Ben!" Susan cried, hastily gathering a force field before her.
Yet against Hulk's even fiercer second punch, the translucent barrier flickered violently, looking painfully fragile as cracks spread across it in an instant.
Just as that fist, brimming with destructive power, was about to punch through the barrier and strike Susan and Reed—
"Hey! Big guy! Over here!"
A red-and-blue figure swung in through the damaged ceiling with unbelievable agility, accompanied by familiar chatter.
Spider-Man, Peter Parker, fired an especially thick webline through the air, sticking it precisely to the wrist of Hulk's descending fist. Then he planted both feet against a side wall that had not fully