Hulkbuster Armor Can't Hold Up? Then Bring Out Four Drills!

South Africa, Johannesburg.

The bustling city center had become a battlefield straight out of the apocalypse.

Sirens, screams, and explosions intertwined as dust blotted out the sky.

"Roar—!!!"

A roar filled with fury shattered every window in the surrounding blocks.

Hulk's eyes glowed with an eerie crimson light, having fallen under Wanda's fear magic. Like a crazed beast, he charged wildly through the streets. He casually grabbed a police car and hurled it at a nearby building as if it were a stone.

"Boom!"

Just then, the roar of thrusters came from the sky.

Countless modular armor components flew in from the satellite platform Veronica above the clouds, rapidly assembling in midair around a red-and-gold figure.

Hulkbuster Armor, Mark 44, on the scene!

It was a heavy combat suit over three meters tall, broader even than Hulk, with every joint radiating the brutal beauty of industrial machinery.

"Listen, big guy!"

Tony Stark's voice boomed through the speakers. "That witch scrambled your brain! You need to be smarter than her! Don't let her win!"

Hulk answered by throwing a fuel tanker at him.

"Fine. Guess we can't talk this out."

Tony sighed. A massive mechanical arm swung out, smashing the incoming tanker apart with one punch before charging through the flames toward Hulk!

"Bang!!"

The two colossal figures collided in the middle of the street, and the shockwave ripped up the surrounding pavement.

Tony grabbed Hulk by the shoulders and repeatedly hammered that green head with a mechanical fist like a hydraulic ram, shouting as he did so:

"Sleep! Sleep! Sleep!"

"Clang! Clang! Clang!"

Every punch rang with a metallic echo. Hulk was briefly dazed, staggering backward.

But the next second, Hulk suddenly raised his head, the red light in his eyes burning even brighter.

The magic's corruption had numbed his pain, making him even more violent.

"Roar!!"

Hulk grabbed the Hulkbuster Armor's arm and squeezed hard.

"Screeech—!"

With a teeth-grinding twist of metal, Mark 44's thick titanium-gold alloy armor plating was crushed flat by sheer force!

"Warning! Left arm hydraulic system damaged!" JARVIS alerted.

"Damn it! Spare parts!" Tony shouted.

A new mechanical arm flew down from the sky, ready to replace the damaged one, but Hulk gave him no chance. He leaped onto Tony's back and began savagely dismantling the armor's reactor, like a rabid beast tearing open a can.

"I can't hold him much longer! Someone give me a hand?!" Tony was tossed around wildly as the surrounding buildings shook.

"Coming, boss."

A calm voice sounded over the communications channel.

"But I suggest you fly farther away first, or you might get... shattered."

Before Tony could react, he saw the ground below suddenly begin to quake violently, as though a magnitude-ten earthquake had struck.

"Rumble—!!"

The asphalt instantly split apart, and countless chunks of stone burst upward like a fountain.

A massive figure drilled out from underground, standing between the Hulkbuster Armor and Hulk.

It was a giant nearly four meters tall with four arms.

But he was neither the red Four Arms nor the yellow Armodrillo.

He was a perfect fusion!

His skin was made of dark-red muscle, yet it was covered in heavy yellow armor plates.

His four hands were no longer hands at all, but four enormous mechanical drills spinning at high speed!

Massive hydraulic pistons were mounted at his elbows, each vibration making the air roar.

"Gene Fusion—Four Drills!"

(Fusion materials: Tetramand + Talpaedan)

"Hulk!"

Jiang Li's voice rang out with a mechanical echo. His four massive drills collided with one another, producing a piercing metallic screech.

"You want to play demolition? I'm the professional here!"

Seeing his new opponent, Hulk roared, abandoned Tony, and charged at Jiang Li like a cannonball.

"A contest of strength? I might lose. But when it comes to vibration..."

All four of Jiang Li's arms shot out as the pistons went into overdrive.

"Quadruple... Resonance Drill Strike!!"

"Boom—!!!"

All four drills slammed into Hulk's chest and shoulders at once!

This was no ordinary physical blow. These drills carried ultra-high-frequency vibrations!

The vibration waves ignored Hulk's seemingly indestructible skin, passed straight through his muscles, and rippled into his internal organs and bones!

"Urgh!"

Hulk's massive body froze in place. His pupils constricted sharply, and he vomited a mouthful of sour fluid.

The agony of every bone in his body resonating while his brain felt as if it had been tossed into a blender made him let out a miserable howl.

"I'm not done yet!"

Jiang Li's lower two hands seized Hulk around the waist, their drills transforming into pincer-like clamps, while his upper two hands turned into enormous pile drivers.

"Get... down!!"

"Thud! Thud! Thud!"

Like he was playing whack-a-mole, Jiang Li relentlessly pounded Hulk's back.

Every strike triggered a small earthquake. Every window in the surrounding buildings shattered, and the ground collapsed into a deep crater.

"Tony! Lock him down!" Jiang Li shouted. "I'm giving him something big!"

"Got it!"

Tony reacted swiftly in the air. The Hulkbuster Armor's remaining arm fired several floating devices, which formed an energy force field that briefly pinned down the struggling Hulk.

"Now!"

All four of Jiang Li's arms rose at once. The drills folded together, merging into a gigantic battering ram.

He stomped both feet into the ground and raised the vibration frequency of his entire body to its maximum.

"Tetramand Earth-Shattering Strike!!"

"Rumbleee—!!!"

This blow punched straight through the surface, shattering the bedrock beneath Hulk's feet and even bursting the underground water pipes.

A massive shockwave mixed with a column of water shot into the sky, completely swallowing Hulk.

The violent vibrations struck Hulk's cerebellum and semicircular canals directly, utterly robbing him of his sense of balance and consciousness.

Several dozen seconds later.

The vibrations stopped.

The mist cleared.

In that deep crater, Hulk had reverted to human form—Dr. Bruce Banner, bare-chested and covered in mud, lay unconscious in a puddle. The red glow in his eyes had finally faded.

Jiang Li released his fusion form, dropped onto the ground, and panted heavily.

"Phew... This really isn't work for a human. That guy was harder to handle than The Destroyer."

Tony landed and opened his faceplate.

But he did not celebrate their victory.

He looked around.

The once-prosperous streets had become ruins. Buildings had collapsed, and crying and screams filled the air.

Countless civilians, their faces streaked with blood, stared at them in terror.

News helicopters circled overhead, broadcasting the scene live to the entire world.

There was no gratitude in those eyes, only fear.

Fear of monsters. Fear of the Avengers.

"We won the battle," Tony said hoarsely. "But we lost the people."

Jiang Li got to his feet, hauled the unconscious Banner up, slung him over his shoulder, and covered his face with clothing.

"Save the melancholy, boss."

Jiang Li looked at the flashing police lights in the distance and the special forces units closing in.

"Let's get out of here first. The Avengers' reputation probably isn't much better than mine right now. We need somewhere to hide and lick our wounds."

"Where?" Tony asked, looking lost.

"Somewhere with no internet, no Ultron, and no reporters."

Jiang Li thought of the man whose home had all the qualities of a safe house.

"We're going to find Hawkeye. To his farm."