Nighttime in West Midtown, Manhattan.
A lieutenant on guard duty leaned casually against his Humvee, a half-smoked cigarette dangling from his lips as he stared up at the pitch-black sky in sheer boredom.
Suddenly, he noticed that a massive chunk of the full moon had inexplicably vanished.
“Huh?
What’s going—”
Before his brain could even process what was happening, the terrifying realization hit him.
A colossal shadow was plummeting straight out of the sky at terminal velocity!
“Enemy attack—!”
BOOM!!!
The instant the shadow struck the asphalt, the ground within a hundred-meter radius violently rippled like ocean waves.
The street shattered into a thousand pieces, and a terrifying shockwave exploded outward, flipping five Humvees and two Stryker armored vehicles completely upside down.
The soldiers stationed around the perimeter were tossed into the air like weightless ragdolls, crashing heavily back down onto the broken concrete.
As the thick clouds of dust began to settle, the survivors desperately scrambled to their feet.
They stared toward the epicenter of the crater, only to watch a massive, nightmarish green silhouette slowly rise from the wreckage.
Clack!
The military helicopters hovering above instantly threw their searchlights down, finally illuminating the attacker’s true face.
It was a monster towering over twelve feet tall.
Its olive-gray body was covered in wickedly sharp bone spurs, its muscles bulging like solid blocks of granite.
Set within a twisted, horrifying visage, a pair of glowing yellow, slit-like pupils coldly scanned the perimeter.
“It’s the Hulk!
Open fire!
Open fire!”
The moment a nearby sergeant laid eyes on the beast, he screamed at the top of his lungs, raising his rifle and pulling the trigger.
Bang!
Bang!
Bang!
In a split second, dozens of M4A1 assault rifles and several heavy M2HB machine guns erupted, unleashing a torrential downpour of blazing lead directly at the Abomination.
Clang!
Clang!
Clang!
The heavy-caliber rounds struck the monster with massive kinetic force, but aside from showering the street in bright sparks, they didn’t leave a single scratch on his skin.
“ROAR—!”
The Abomination bellowed in fury and charged headlong into the defensive line, moving so fast he was nothing but a terrifying blur.
Crash!
Smash!
The first soldier didn’t even have time to scream before a devastating strike sent him flying lifelessly through the air.
The Abomination swept his massive, bone-spiked arm out in a brutal arc, instantly taking down a dozen more soldiers and leaving a trail of absolute destruction across the broken street.
The lieutenant who had first spotted the drop grabbed his radio, screaming frantically into the mic.
“Command center, this is Alpha 1-6! Read this novel at g.com for the best experience.
We are under attack by the Hulk!
Coordinates 42S UB 123456!
Requesting emergency close air support, danger close!
We’ve already lost twelve—”
Crunch!
Before the lieutenant could finish his sentence, a massive hand punched straight through the Humvee’s armored roof and grabbed his helmet.
With a single, brutal squeeze, the transmission was silenced forever.
Tossing the lifeless soldier aside, the Abomination hurled a heavy piece of debris at a rapidly approaching armored vehicle.
Smash!
The debris shattered the bulletproof windshield.
In the split second the driver was blinded, the Abomination vaulted onto the roof.
Screeeech!
Digging his claws deep into the armor plating, he peeled the entire roof of the vehicle back like a tin can, neutralizing the soldiers inside before they could even raise their weapons to retaliate.
Further down the street, a Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV) was accelerating wildly, trying to escape the carnage.
Its tires shrieked violently against the asphalt.
Inside, the communications officer was deathly pale, his fingers trembling as he worked his terminal.
“Command!
This is Charlie 7!
We are under attack by an unidentified biological entity, suspected to be the fugitive known as the Hulk!
Transmitting live video feed now—”
The video feed instantly uploaded to General Ross’s command helicopter.
On the screen, the Abomination was hoisting a wrecked military Humvee over his head, casually hurling it hundreds of feet down the avenue like a shot put.
BOOM!
The fiery explosion illuminated his twisted, manic grin, making him look exactly like a demon crawling straight out of hell.
General Ross turned his head to glare at Bruce Banner—the absolute bastard who was currently holding his precious daughter—and barked sharply into the comms.
“That is not the Hulk, soldier!
Protect yourselves!
Evacuate immedi—”
“Aaaagh!”
Before Ross could finish his order, a bloodcurdling scream echoed over the radio, and the live feed abruptly cut to static.
Inside the Super Stallion transport chopper, Bruce Banner stared grimly at the frozen tablet screen, his face sinking.
Though the monster possessed exaggerated muscles and green skin similar to his alter ego, this creature was covered in exoskeletal bone spurs, and its face was far more twisted and predatory.
He turned his head to look at General Ross, the fury in his eyes completely undisguised.
“You restarted the experiments?!” he demanded coldly.
“This has nothing to do with the military!
Ever since your little accident, all related projects were completely shut down!
If anything, that ugly son of a bitch looks exactly like your handiwork.
Are you telling me you didn’t create this?!”
Right at that moment, the helicopter lurched violently.
“General!” the pilot shouted over his shoulder.
“The monster is moving rapidly toward Times Square!”
Down below, the Abomination was leaping wildly between the high-rises, rapidly closing the distance to the heavily populated commercial district.
Every single bound left cracked, cratered footprints on the buildings and a devastating trail of ruin in his wake.
Bruce Banner took a deep breath.
He unbuckled his safety harness and looked toward the cockpit.
“Fly directly over it, and open the hatch.”
Ross’s expression changed instantly.
He grabbed Banner by the shoulder, pinning him in place.
“You want to turn into the Hulk in the middle of Manhattan?
Are you insane?!
Down there is the most densely populated—”
“Which is exactly why you need the Hulk.
Either you drop me down there right now to stop it, or we sit up here and watch that monster wipe out half of Manhattan while you reconsider.” Banner’s eyes were eerily calm.
But Betty Ross wasn’t having it.
She grabbed Bruce’s arm, her voice trembling but firm.
“No!
I won’t let you do this!
Even ignoring whether the Hulk can actually beat that ugly freak, you just injected the inhibitor!
We don’t even know if you can transform anymore!
A fall from this height will kill you.
I am not letting you take that risk!”
She stared desperately into Bruce’s eyes, her expression screaming: ‘That was a very noble speech, but you’re completely out of touch with reality right now!’
“Don’t worry.
I know what I’m doing.”
Dead silence fell over the cabin, save for the rhythmic roar of the chopper blades and the faint, muffled explosions echoing from the city below.
Betty slowly released her grip, looking agonizingly torn.
She desperately didn’t want the man she loved to risk his life, but she couldn’t bring herself to let the citizens of Manhattan die, either.
Watching his precious daughter about to share a tearful goodbye kiss with this bastard, General Ross’s face turned iron-gray.
He turned to the pilot and barked, “Do as he says!”
The heavy side hatch slowly slid open, allowing the freezing, high-altitude wind to howl into the cabin.
With a swift, impatient shove from Ross, Bruce Banner stumbled to the edge of the open hatch.
Far below him stretched the breathtaking, neon-lit nightscape of Manhattan—and the terrifying monster rapidly tearing it apart.