FBI: Chapter 85/86

Chapter 85: The Sun is Setting

The moment Loki saw the two towering monsters—one red, one green—his whole body trembled involuntarily.

What an infuriating feeling!

Some voice in the darkness whispered:

"Don't let them get close. Absolutely not!"

If they did… his legendary rep as the God of Mischief? Ruined.

"By Odin!" Thor exclaimed. "Those two are stronger than Frost Giants!"

Looking up at the two Gamma beasts in the distance, Thor couldn't help but be genuinely awed.

Even Hela, the undisputed power ceiling among the Asgardian siblings, furrowed her brows.

"Hela, you see those two monsters, right?"

Just as the words left Thor's mouth, Dante—still fully transformed into his Red Lantern form—flew down from the FBI HQ rooftop, landing right next to her. A few floating blood flames trailed behind him, giving him that "walking hazard sign" energy.

"They're mine. I'm not letting you steal My opponents."

"My dear Queen, don't even think about it." Hela gave a wicked smile. "One each… I call dibs on the red one."

Dante smirked. "Fine. The green one's mine."

Before Hela could respond, he rocketed toward Hulk, no hesitation whatsoever.

Thor opened his mouth, ready to fight for the red one himself—but after one look at his big sister's icy glare, he wisely shut it and stuck to beating up HYDRA's foot soldiers with Loki.

"Alas…"

Thor sighed and tried to comfort himself.

There'd be more boss fights in the future. Probably.

Seeing Loki standing dazed not far off, Thor kicked off and flew straight at him—

WHACK!

A palm came down hard on Loki's head.

"Damn it, Thor! Why'd you hit me?!"

"You're really gonna just stand there instead of helping me wipe out HYDRA's grunts?"

This… this is the sibling hierarchy.

Get bullied by big sis? Don't fight back—just go bully your little brother instead.


---

Truth be told, Dante was a little impressed by this version of HYDRA.

They were way more competent than the originals.

Sure, in the canon timeline, HYDRA was always hyped as this ancient evil cabal…

But in practice? Trash.

Especially in the power department—they were always underwhelming. They treated Winter Soldier like a cheat card, when really he was just an edgy B-list assassin.

Honestly, HYDRA and their so-called "strength" existed only on paper.

But here?

They'd mastered the art of mass-producing Winter Soldiers and even managed to get the drop on him. That was not easy.

A squad of these enhanced agents was nothing to sneeze at. If it weren't for the three Asgardian siblings and the FBI Academy brats, HYDRA might've actually pulled off their goal of "crippling an entire nation in a matter of hours."

And the number of HYDRA troops they unleashed? Totally unprecedented.

Clearly, they wanted to go all in. One strike to win the war.

Same as Dante's plan.

But what he never expected was that HYDRA actually created two super Winter Soldiers…

Hulk and Red Hulk!

He'd been wondering why those two hadn't shown up yet.

Turns out HYDRA had already bagged and brainwashed them.

Sure, Hulks were walking nukes—but they had a universal flaw…

They were emotionally unstable and prone to mind control.

And no one did brainwashing better than HYDRA, short of telepaths.

So, after paying some price, they managed to get both Hulk and Red Hulk on a leash.

And maybe they didn't even pay that much.

Bruce Banner? Just a squishy science guy when he's not green. Easy pickings.

General Ross? Sure, he's a U.S. Air Force Lieutenant General, but compared to HYDRA's black ops? He's standard fare.

So unleashing the Hulks now? Clearly HYDRA's final gamble.

Because if they weren't the trump card… Dante didn't want to know what was.

Like… Loki Chthon?

That guy was the Big Bad behind Madame Hydra, and his power rivaled Gaia's. No way he'd act just to back up some washed-up spy syndicate.

"HULK! SMASH! DESTROY EVERYTHING!"

Hulk, now decked out in a modded Winter Soldier uniform, was rampaging at full tilt.

And this Hulk? He'd picked up some basic combat technique from the Winter Soldier playbook.

So yes, apparently even Hulk could learn a few moves.

This was Dante's first time facing Hulk directly.

Even with all his stacked abilities—Loki's constitution included—he wasn't sure he could take Hulk head-on.

So he activated:

Diamond Form.
Unstoppable Incarnation of Power.

With high-speed flight and pure force, Dante smashed into Hulk like a crimson comet, carrying them both out of the city in an instant.

As they crashed into the distant suburbs, Dante even glanced Hela's way—yep, she had the same idea. She lured Red Hulk away from the main battlefield, too.

After all, fighting Gamma monsters in the city? Recipe for disaster.

Hulk, though caught off guard, had freakish reflexes. He still managed to swing a hammer blow at Dante's back during the flight.

But thanks to Unstoppable Incarnation of Power, Dante powered through the hit and drove Hulk deep into a suburban mountain crater.

He flipped out of the crater, wincing as he stretched his back.

What now?

How the hell do you deal with this guy?

As Dante pondered, a terrible idea popped into his head.

Hulk clambered out of the crater, pissed off and looking stronger than ever.

Winter Soldier uniform? Ripped. Rage meter? Maxed.

But Dante, straining to keep his voice calm, took a deep breath and tried the oldest trick in the MCU book.

"Hey, big guy…"

"The sun's getting real low…"

He slowly reached out a hand, signaling peace.

Hulk froze.

His expression went… blank.

Then, slowly, he reached out—and placed his massive hand on Dante's.

And then?

He smiled.

A charmingly evil smile.

OH NO.

SLAM.

SLAM.

SLAM SLAM SLAM SLAM SLAM SLAM SLAM SLAM.

Dante got ragdolled eight times in a row.

What the hell?!

Loki's physical constitution! It's cursed!

And this Hulk actually knows how to fake out?!

Luckily, Dante summoned a Red Lantern energy barrier mid-smash and took no real damage.

But emotionally?

He wanted to scream.

Why the hell did I try that dumb move?!

What if Hulk hadn't gone WWE-mode and instead pulled a "Hulk X Black Widow" moment? He shuddered.

(To be continued.)

Chapter 86 Dual Lantern Ring

"You little rascal, you're not dumb at all!"

"Hulk! Smart! Little man dumb! Haha!"

"Damn it, now I'm getting mad!"

Dante rolled up his sleeves, ready to go full rage mode—until a sudden thought hit him.

Wait a second…

Wasn't this Hulk supposed to be brainwashed by HYDRA's Winter Soldier protocol?

Then why the hell is he acting smarter than the original Hulk?

You'd think Winter Soldier brainwashing would turn an IQ 180 and an IQ 18 into, like, IQ 50 combined.

Except that's not how intelligence works. Obviously.

So…

"Hulk, you weren't actually hypnotized by HYDRA, were you?"

"Hulk doesn't understand what you're saying."

"…When you answer like that, it's impossible you're the damn Winter Soldier!"

"Hulk… Hulk is the Winter Soldier!"

Dante's forehead twitched with several black lines.

Where did this three-meter-tall green muscle brat even come from?

What kind of Winter Soldier runs his mouth like this?

Still, Dante didn't bother arguing with the green beefcake.

Let him babble on from the floor.

The Rage Red Light burst toward the sky like a blood geyser, and searing blood flames poured from Dante's seven orifices.

A Red Lantern in full rage mode was a lot more extra than a Green Lantern.

There's a reason Green Lanterns are seen as heroes… and Red Lanterns as demons.

When it comes to raw intimidation, Rage Light is the king among the emotional spectrum.

Hulk's beast instincts kicked in the moment he saw the blood fire erupt from Dante's body.

Danger.

"Monster! HULK! SMASH!"

Classic Hulk opener: leap and pound.

Except this time?

Didn't work.

A fully-formed Rage Red Light barrier stopped Hulk's tank-smashing blow cold.

Red Lantern construct generation is rare.

Even in the comics, Atrocitus—the Red Lantern Corps founder—couldn't pull it off at first.

Why?

Because Red Lanterns usually lose their humanity in the process. They become mindless shells of rage—pure destruction with zero imagination.

But creating constructs requires rationality. And imagination.

Luckily for Dante, his Red Lantern Ring wasn't running off pure Rage Light. It was fused with the volatile energy of Cyttorak's Crimson Cosmos.

This made it more unstable than Green Lantern energy—but not evil.

Still, it made generating constructs harder than with green willpower alone.

Dante never let a little instability stop him.

Unlike the system-powered Batman-tier Will that fueled his Green Lantern side, this monstrous, focused rage?

That was all him.

Honestly, he always felt he was more Red Lantern than Green.

"Bang! Bang! Bang—"

Fists coated in bloodfire gauntlets rained down on Hulk, blow after blow.

For a hot second, even the Hulk got pushed back.

But Dante wasn't deluded. This was just the warm-up.

In full Red Lantern mode, he could feel emotional fluctuations around him with terrifying clarity.

Right now?

Hulk's anger was skyrocketing with each punch.

Sure, the damage wasn't decreasing, but the stun time between hits?

Shortening.

Fast.

Because Hulk got stronger the angrier he got. And Dante's pummeling was giving him a free power-up.

"HOT! TOO HOT! HULK ANGRY!"

The blood flames burned more than the punches themselves.

And now, Hulk started countering.

Three hits from Dante? One smash from Hulk.

But each retaliation hit harder than the last.

Dante, curious to test his limits, didn't summon any advanced weapons. He went all-in with his fists.

In Red Lantern state, he stayed mostly rational… but also way more prone to tunnel vision.

And Hulk?

Hulk was just straight-up a walking cheat code.

There was no cap to his strength curve. The madder he got, the scarier he became.

"BOOM!"

Finally, Hulk not only caught up to Dante's attack speed… he surpassed it.

Dante got knocked flying.

But even as he skidded to a halt, he looked up at the roaring Gamma beast and grinned.

"Hulk… your strength really does go beyond imagination."

"HULK STRONG! LITTLE MAN NOT AS GOOD!"

"Not as good as you?"

Dante shook his head.

If we're talking raw stats, strength and durability even the All Father-tier heavyweights might not beat Hulk.

So if you want to win against him, you have to take him down before the rage builds past the tipping point.

Problem is…

Killing Hulk? Not exactly on the menu.

Dante glanced at his Green Lantern Ring.

Ion Shark hadn't fully recovered, but the charge was back.

"Alright then…"

"Let's begin Round Two."

"In brightest day, in blackest night,
No evil shall escape my sight.
Let those who worship evil's might,
Beware my power—Green Lantern's light!"

The Green Light surged, and the Red Lantern sigil on Dante's chest morphed.

The Red Lantern transformation stayed, but a new glow lit up across his chest.

The Green Lantern insignia.

This was it.

His first Red-Green Dual Lantern Transformation.

Two incompatible powers, fusing into one.

Red rage. Green will.

Clashing forces, dancing in sync under his command.

Dante could feel the power spike instantly.

In this fused state?

He was confident he could go toe-to-toe with all three Asgardian siblings at once.

Hulk, naturally, had no clue what just happened.

Even with some barely-trained cunning from HYDRA's programming, at his core, he was still a glorified rage potato.

"Hey, big dummy—what's coming next is gonna be way more exciting."

"HULK NOT AFRAID OF YOU!"

"You'd better not be."

Dante smiled, extended his hand.

Red and Green Lantern Rings pulsed together.

No fancy constructs this time.

Just raw energy, ignited by pure rage and unwavering will.

"BOOM!!"

The blast rocked the entire uninhabited zone.

Tremors rippled across the ground.

Dust clouds billowed high—but this time, the classic "smoke means no damage" trope didn't apply.

Dante waited for the dust to settle.

And there lay Hulk—flat on his back, green blood leaking from every pore.

A Will Green Light scan confirmed it:

Most of his bones?

Fractured.

Over 80% of his muscles?

Torn clean.

And still…

Even now…

He was healing.

"Hulk… hurt."

"You shouldn't have tried to pass off as the Winter Soldier."

"Hulk… ate too much… They said Winter Soldier only need eat…"

(To be continued.)