45 The World in Crisis

The clash between Allen and Hulk was, to say the least, astonishing and also terrifying. Unlike the time with Doomsday, people couldn't deny the reality of the event; there were two monsters capable of ending the world.

On Erik's side, better known as Magneto, the reaction to Allen and Hulk's first clash was varied. From a breathless Avalanche to Sabertooth declaring his eagerness to fight him.

"HAHAHA, I love that destruction! I've changed my mind, let me fight Walker!" 

"You're drunk, just shut up!," Mystique scolded Sabertooth irritably, then looked over to Magneto who observed the fight in silence.

"Are we just going to watch?" Mystique asked.

"..." Erik didn't respond.

Allen was sent flying to Colorado, and Hulk's clear superiority was evident. At that moment, Magneto's face wrinkled, almost deciding to go help Allen.

"Erik... he's going to die."

It was Avalanche who spoke, the most committed to the mutant cause. Seeing a brother so special die would be unacceptable. However, he also knew that this level of fight wasn't something he could intervene in. Only Magneto himself could support Allen.

Erik fell silent as the magnetic field within several hundred meters around him began to fluctuate.

For Erik, his mutant brothers and sisters were the most valuable in the world. Even if Allen wasn't his ally yet, Erik considered him invaluable. However, after seeing the result of the second confrontation and Allen showing the ability to fight Hulk on equal terms, he decided to wait.

Everything seemed ridiculous with Hulk effortlessly hurling a piece of the surface towards Allen.

"Hey hey hey! That's dangerous?!" Pyro exclaimed, feeling chills at the massive meteorite in the sky created by Hulk. It was large enough to cause an ice age if it hit the ground.

Then Allen turned it into a mini-planet where they fought again.

"That's impossible..." said a shocked woman with a hood that revealed her golden hair as she watched Allen's live-stream. Her delicate features showed surprise beyond words; her name was Emma Frost, and strangely, she was allied with Magneto.

At first, the woman underestimated the level this fight would reach. When Allen split the sky, they all fell silent without exception.

In his mansion, Charles observed this with a cold sweat on his cheek. "Erik, do you still want to recruit him?" murmured Charles, and Beast beside him growled with concern.

"Charles, according to my estimations, Hulk could reach a level where he could destroy the Earth very soon!" Beast put his hand on the stunned Charles's shoulder. "Friend, you must stop Hulk!"

Charles sighed, "I can't. When I learned of Hulk's existence, I mistook him for a mutant like us and tried to contact him, but something prevented me from entering his mind."

"What?!" Beast knew Charles's capabilities to the extent that in the near future, Professor X could control everyone in the world if he wished.

However, for any telepath attempting to enter Hulk's mind, they must surpass Hulk's "infinite rage." In the case of Worldbreaker Hulk, there was also a shield of mutated gamma energy. Something impossible for Charles Xavier.

Back with Magneto, he and all his allies watched as Hulk regenerated from dust and energy, a terrifying and desperate sight.

Regarding Hulk's pants, they also regenerated... of course, this is a lie, but that's how it appeared to everyone watching Hulk from their electronic devices. Hulk was naked after being disintegrated by Allen's infinite mass punch, so the system censored it by giving him pants for the viewers.

(A/N: I didn't mention Hulk's pants earlier because it would take away from the seriousness of the fight, haha.)

"...This is bad," Erik said urgently and prepared to open a wormhole to get there.

This ability of Magneto isn't widely known, but it's undoubtedly one of his most useful abilities as it allows him to travel great distances rapidly. Unfortunately, this Magneto isn't yet an Omega-level and hasn't succeeded in doing it even once.

"Damn it," muttered Erik.

Magneto tried in vain and failed, only Mystique noticed what Erik was attempting while everyone was looking at the screen.

Everyone's eyes were fixed at the instant before Hulk struck Allen. Unexpectedly, black line tattoos appeared on Allen's face, and Hulk was cut.

"...!!" Sabertooth instinctively jumped back while roaring.

The group's reaction, even Magneto's, was fear. Not just them, but around the world, people's blood ran cold.

Sabertooth, being a wild man unafraid of death, began sweating profusely as his claws retracted and extended repeatedly.

[Domain Expansion... Malevolent Kitchen...]

With Allen's words, pandemonium reached the world. The countless attacks cut through Hulk's indestructible body again and again, but despite everything, Hulk's power only grew and grew. To the point that even Allen felt pressured.

In a final exchange, Allen demonstrated combat superiority, and by revealing that someone caused this, people worldwide erupted in anger.

...

Fury contacted with the president when he discovered the cause of all this; it wasn't difficult to find the destroyed helicopters.

Upon calling the White House, they quickly traced it back to Ross's battalion. The president called Ross to inform him of his dismissal and arrest.

"Why?! This is for the good of the nation!" Ross yelled furiously as he was handcuffed.

The president remained calm. "Look around you, Thaddeus... the world could be destroyed because of you. People demand someone's head..."

"And it will be my head?" Ross gritted his teeth.

"Everyone must make sacrifices for their country..."

Thaddeus Ross was arrested and taken by S.H.I.E.L.D. after being interrogated; he would be imprisoned until the court-martial.

His battalion was disbanded and reassigned to different locations. The only thing that wasn't resolved was the existence of a secret underground laboratory which Ross would never reveal the location.

...

The people of the world were equally amazed and frightened. To begin with, the idea of people with superpowers was too ambiguous for the general public.

When you asked an ordinary person if they knew about supernatural beings, they'd imagine someone throwing fireballs from their hands.

Not in their wildest dreams did they imagine seeing a fight of the magnitude Allen and Hulk had. People panicked, even when they knew the crisis had been averted. They panicked knowing that events that until now only happened in movies were happening in their world.

BBC: People take to the streets to protest the security measures taken against the possible mutant threat.

CNN: In international news, the world shakes with the revelation of the dark side of our world's moon, as a famous proverb says, "reality surpasses fiction."

On national radio: "So, should we just shut up and accept that Hulk wasn't to blame for anything and that it was all the fault of a crazed military man? What are people supposed to do knowing that thing is walking the streets like nothing happened?!"

News reports: "Everyone hails Allen as a hero... the people's hypocrisy knows no bounds. Just a couple of days ago, social media was flooded with messages of hate and fear, congressmen were debating implementing stricter mutant laws, and now they're kissing Walker's feet!"

Entertainment programs: "Allen Walker, that name reaches every corner of the world, regardless of language or country. A young man who dedicates himself to streaming among other media for content creation on social networks has become the most famous person in the world. His last live stream reached 3.2 million viewers at its peak."

In a building owned by the renowned newspaper in NYC called the Daily Bugle, there was a Caucasian man with a brush mustache and a flat-top haircut. He was sitting at his desk with a cigar in his mouth while watching the outcome of the Allen and Hulk fight on his computer.

"Stop the presses, we're changing the headline!" shouted the man. He's John J. Jameson Jr., the editor-in-chief of the Daily Bugle.

A man entered the office. "Sir, but there will be losses; we had already sent everything to print."

"I don't give a shit that some crazy scientist is creating a sun in New York; there's an apocalyptic threat a few states away!" Jameson paused for a moment, understanding his hands. "Headline: 'Allen Walker: hero or just a monster?'"

"Sir, isn't that a bit rushed?"

"Nonsense! There's a hormonal disorder kid cracking jokes while having the power to destroy the fucking world! People need to be aware of the danger!"

While many praised Allen, others began to fear him due to his display of power. It was simply too much power for people to forget.

In that sense, Jameson was right. Allen was someone difficult to hate, whether it was his personality, actions, charisma, or even his appearance. That's why many simply accepted Allen taking charge of Hulk, without thinking about the danger it represented.

Allen was aware of this but didn't care. As long as Hulk saved the world a couple of times, people would stop hating and fearing him.

...

Hulk walked cheerfully to a hotdog stand and ordered twenty. Allen told the owner to give him whatever he wanted, and the man in armor would pay for it.

Tony complained but eventually agreed. There was no way a billionaire like him would complain about a few dollars less, that was his mistake. When Hulk found out he could eat as much as he wanted, he grabbed the food cart and emptied it into his mouth, then moved to the next stand and did the same.

Tony sweated cold seeing Hulk eat like an elephant.

...

– Hahaha, Stark's face, this is going straight to Twitter LMFAO!

– wtf, do you guys forget that Hulk almost ended the world?!

"

– I know, but... he's so innocent and silly; he really doesn't seem to do it on purpose.

– I don't care anymore, as long as he doesn't do it again...

– Everyone's crazy!!

===

"So, what's your plan?" Phill asked beside Allen.

Originally, Coulson was supposed to arrive quickly at this place and cordon off the area with S.H.I.E.L.D. agents to prevent it from becoming, well, but Fury gave Allen total authority over this operation. It was both a show of trust in him and a test to determine how reliable Allen was on a mission, so no agent moved without Allen's order.

Allen watched as he ate a cheeseburger and saw the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents ready to evacuate the people from this place. Then he looked at an old man tying the hammer with a chain to his truck.

"Phill, do hammers grow on trees?" Allen asked, finishing his meal.

"No..." Coulson responded seriously, observing Allen's expressionless gaze.

"Exactly, someone dropped that hammer there, and it must be blocked by some kind of magic or supernatural power that only its bearer can lift."

Coulson saw the crater around the hammer and thought that maybe it had fallen from space. "Are you going to break the magic or something?"

Coulson had seen Allen perform many miracles and thought maybe he had some magical way to break the spell.

Allen shrugged as he walked toward the elderly man by the truck. "I won't do something like that... I'll just cut all the ground around the hammer and take the piece of land away with a truck..."

===

– Well, that would be a bit disappointing, but it seems like the best option -_-

– Expected something more magical? Well, I did :(.

Rick - "I hope it works, heh."

Nikky - "Mmm."

Gwen - "Is something wrong?"

Gwen noticed in Allen's exclusive chat for founders and friends that Nikky was unusually quiet when she usually comments a lot.

Nikky - "It's just that that hammer seems familiar to me... but it must be my imagination, hehe~"

===

Gwen thought for a moment and looked closely at the hammer. She saw a symbol on it, took a screenshot, and began to investigate.

"Is it Icelandic? Nordic? Thurizas... the hammer, the thorn, or the branch. The hammer refers to the god Thor..."

Gwen leaned back in her chair, checked her phone, and saw several missed calls; her parents must be furious because she skipped classes. She simply couldn't go with the worry Allen's situation caused her.

Mary Jane approached behind Gwen and offered her a glass of water. They went through a tough time seeing Allen in danger, but now that everything was over, they were just tired.

"You should call them..." Mary Jane said with a calm face, but her eyes changed as she thought about her parents.

"They tend to be overprotective," Gwen sighed.

"And is that bad?" MJ said, lowering her head with an uncomfortable look.

"I'm sorry, MJ! I wasn't thinking!" Gwen felt stupid for forgetting MJ's situation; for Mary Jane, having overprotective parents was only an impossible dream, it was like complaining about food being cold in front of someone with an empty stomach.

Mary Jane shook her head and then smiled. "I'm very happy now... it's a dream to live with Allen." The redhead smiled mischievously. "Plus, I have an advantage living with him... that you don't hehe~"

"Ugh, I already apologized... you don't have to be resentful," Gwen complained.

"Haha, sorry, Gwen~"

Both girls laughed for a while before returning their attention to Allen, who was now talking to an old man while wearing a cowboy hat.

"Allen can be very strange sometimes," said the beautiful redhead watching Allen having fun with strangers.

Gwen covered her face with one hand. "That idiot..."

...

"Come on, Stan Lee, you're almost there," Allen sarcastically spoke; he was in the passenger seat of the old man who was trying to move the hammer with his truck.

"Come on, darling!" the old man shouted to his truck, "I'm almost there; I'll win those hundred dollars, kid!"

"In your dreams, old man!" Allen teased.

Both were betting on whether this old man could move the hammer with his truck.

====

A/N: I listened to your wishes and decided to include both Artoria goddess and Rebecca ;3