Chapter 226

Natasha looked at the giant bear and could feel an indescribable connection, as if it were part of her and their thoughts were linked.

She didn't have much time to think as Bruce and the bear lunged at each other.

The bear charged towards Bruce on all fours, gaining more momentum than Bruce. Once they were close, the bear leaped towards Bruce, roaring and knocking him to the ground.

The bear's mouth opened, and just as it was about to bite Bruce's head, Natasha quickly told it not to kill him.

That moment of interruption allowed Bruce to kick the bear's abdomen, throwing it off him.

Natasha could only apologize mentally as she felt the bear's emotions of complaint, sensing their connection. She finally learned his name.

Ursun, the bear god.

The embodiment of strength.

Ursun growled at Bruce as he charged at him again. With his large size, his reach was much greater than Bruce's.

So, before Bruce could even react, Ursun swiped at him, sending him flying and opening a deep wound in his chest.

Ursun seemed unwilling to end his first appearance without a good fight, as he fiercely pursued Bruce, crashing into him repeatedly.

The terrifying force of the shocks made everything tremble.

Natasha was truly amazed at her relative's power, after all, the current Bruce was incredibly powerful, but her relative seemed to have the upper hand.

"Nat," Tony flew over and reached her side.

"What's that?" Tony asked, confused, noticing the giant bear beating on Bruce.

"It's my familiar," Natasha said with a big smile.

"That's awesome, I don't know what it is, but could you tell it to stop beating up Bruce?" Betty arrived by their side.

"Let's give it a try. Get closer to Bruce and try to calm him down. If he attacks, Ursun will intervene," Natasha said.

"Alright, thanks," Betty nodded before running towards Bruce.

"Ursun?" Tony asked, looking at Natasha.

"That's his name," Natasha said, smiling proudly.

Tony just shook his head before looking at Betty, who had managed to approach Bruce.

"Bruce!" Betty shouted loudly, getting his attention.

Ursun had received instructions from Natasha, so he didn't charge at Bruce and just watched him from a few meters away.

"Bruce," Betty said more softly as she approached him slowly.

"Be-tt-yy," Bruce said with a poor pronunciation.

"Bruce, it's okay," Betty said, getting closer and taking his hand while gently stroking it.

Bruce seemed to calm down significantly with Betty's touch and voice.

The energy emanating from his eyes receded as his size gradually decreased. He soon returned to his normal size but continued to shrink until he reverted to his human form. Once he returned to his human form, Bruce immediately passed out in Betty's arms.

As she was in her transformed form she took Bruce in her arms like a princess.

Tony made sure to take a picture as the scene was somewhat comical. He'd surely tease Bruce about it later.

Ursun approached Natasha and nudged her gently with his head, expressing dissatisfaction with how the battle ended.

"You'll have great battles ahead," Natasha said, stroking Ursun's rough fur.

Ursun let out a soft roar before becoming ethereal and returning to Natasha's body.

"Sometimes I forget you're not human," Hope said, looking at her.

Natasha just stuck her tongue out slightly with a smile.

"By the way, we can't let this go so easily," Hope frowned.

"Yeah, we have to teach that old man a lesson," Natasha said, nodding with annoyance.

"Cough... Ross is Betty's dad," Tony coughed quietly to remind her.

"Don't worry, I also want to give him a beating," Betty said, annoyed.

The whole group chuckled quietly. They hadn't fought together like this since New York.

...

Cortana watched the entire video of the fight that took place at the event before editing it, and adding special effects and music.

She watched the edited video again and smiled satisfied. The entire video was about 15 minutes long and showed the fights of a desperate battle, the uncontrollable anger of a comrade, the desperation, and a power-up when it was most needed, finally a happy ending.

She saved the video before paying attention to the rest of the areas and guiding the Spartans.

Things were going well, but she would have to pay close attention. Sterns' method would likely spread throughout HYDRA, making it easier for groups to form.

Checking the system's expansion, she noted that it was progressing well. She really wanted the system to reach an inhabited planet.

She was curious about other civilizations, but there was still a long way to go before that. The universe was incredibly vast.

...

After leaving the event, which actually only lasted an hour in the real world, it was still early, so Natasha changed clothes before driving a car to the port.

While driving, she sent a message to her sister telling her to bring everyone to see the new boat.

She soon arrived and parked her car in the nearest spot to the boat.

As a new boat in the port, it had attracted some attention, especially because it looked very technological besides being new.

Several people were taking photos and commenting on it, many said it was a Spartan boat.

Despite the curiosity, no one dared to board the boat or block the way.

Natasha got out of her car before boarding the boat under the gaze of the people there.

Once on the boat, she sent her location to her sister so they could come to the place. They knew she would get them a boat, but they didn't know what it was like.

She had kept it a secret and hoped to give them a good surprise.

Natasha leaned on the boat's railing as she searched for her family with her eyes.

Suddenly, she saw more than 20 people walking towards her.

Among them were clearly her family and the girls from the Red Room who still lived with them.

They were practically part of the family now, but she hadn't expected them to come. She was a little glad that they were more open to new things.

Natasha saw them looking around searching for her, so she waved her hand, greeting them from the boat.

The whole family was momentarily surprised, looking at the boat before quickly walking over and boarding it.

"Hi," Natasha said, smiling as she hugged her sister.

"Hi," Yelena said, smiling happily.

Natasha smiled slightly before hugging the rest of her family, and greeting them.

"It's a good boat," Alexei said with his Russian accent still quite pronounced.

"Hm, I heard it can temporarily withstand the attack of a Titan," Natasha said.

Alexei nodded satisfactorily as he tested the hardness of the hull with his finger.

"It's really good," Alexei said, smiling contentedly.

He had always loved fishing since he was young, having a physical competition with another creature, each pulling for their life.

"I really didn't think you'd decide to become a fishermen. I thought you'd try to join the Spartans or something," Natasha laughed lightly.

"Enough of that, this quieter life is fine," Melina said, smiling faintly.

"Besides, being too tall would be a bit problematic," Yelena joked.

"Enough talk, how about we go for a stroll?" Alexei suggested after looking around excitedly.

"Let's go," Natasha agreed, leading them toward the cabin.

The boat controls were really easy and intuitive, and many things could be handled with voice commands since it had basic artificial intelligence. Nonetheless, Natasha explained everything about how it worked.

"Alright, let's set sail," Alexei said, chuckling heartily as he started the boat's engine.

The engine roared as the boat slowly moved away from the dock.

Alexei put it in gear to head out to sea; he had a stupid grin as he looked towards the horizon.

"Don't forget the sea is full of monsters," Natasha said, shaking her head at how relaxed he was.

"Ignore her; you know he becomes an idiot when he smiles like that. Better tell me how your pregnancy's going," Melina said, crossing her arms.

"Not quite as I expected; I don't feel much different, no nausea or fatigue, but I can feel it," Natasha said with a soft smile, gently caressing her stomach.

"Isn't that better?" Yelena said, smiling.

"By the way, what have you been up to at the event?" Yelena asked Natasha.

"Well, speaking of that, I awakened my first familiar!" Natasha said happily.

"Really? Come on, show me!" Yelena exclaimed excitedly, taking Natasha's hands.

She had been eager to see and touch a familiar in person since she saw them during the Dark Elves invasion.

"He doesn't fit in this room, and he seems to have a bad temper and be addicted to fights," Natasha said, smiling ironically. She didn't understand why it was like that; Damian's familiars were really obedient. They only asked to go out occasionally before returning to Damian's body.

"Wait until your baby is born," Melina teased.

"I don't think so. Just look at Alice, Emma, and Ivy; they're really obedient and adorable," Natasha said, believing her son or daughter wouldn't be much different.

"I hope you're right," Yelena said, laughing, unable to wait to cuddle the little adorable baby.

Natasha looked outside and noticed they were already quite far from the shore.

"We're not escaping the country; we're supposed to be here to fish. Isn't this enough?" Natasha asked Alexei.

"I wonder how much we could charge for rescuing a queen," Yelena joked as she hugged Natasha, blocking her arms.

Natasha just rolled her eyes amused.

"Darling, the deeper the water, the bigger the fish," Alexei said confidently.

"You have to be sure you can get the fish out of the water," Melina told him.

"We'll be fine," Alexei said.

The three women shook their heads, unconvinced, and left the cabin to join the rest of the girls who had already explored the entire boat.

The whole group of women chatted idly for a while until the boat suddenly slowed down, and Alexei emerged excitedly.

"Here we are, girls, it's time to earn a living," Alexei said, laughing heartily as he approached with a large fishing rod.

"Do you want to catch a tuna or what?" Natasha shook her head.

"We'll see," Alexei shrugged before baiting the hook and casting the line.

Yelena and several other girls who also wanted to give it a try followed suit.

In the next few minutes, everyone kept conversations low at Alexei's insistence, complaining that noise would scare the fish away.

The bait was mutant animal meat, so they hoped for a good catch.

Suddenly, one of the fishing rods started to be pulled intensely.

Everyone quickly ran to the rod, but Alexei rushed forward and quickly began to pull before letting go a bit and reeling in the line.

Alexei's arms swelled to the maximum as he resisted being dragged into the water.

"If you can?" Natasha asked from the side, watching him.

"I can," Alexei said with a strained voice, using all his strength to pull.

Natasha used magic to see through the water and saw a giant tuna that was about 8 meters long.

The tuna fiercely resisted, shaking its tail and pulling with its mouth.

Alexei was just as tenacious, resisting with all his strength.

At first, the others watched with excitement as they played tug-of-war, but after several minutes, they couldn't help but start to lose interest.

"Just let us help you," Yelena said, annoyed.

"This is the fight between a man and a fish; you can't interrupt it," Alexei said, very tired but refusing help.

At that moment, another fishing rod also began to tense up, so Yelena quickly lunged for it before starting to pull.

On the first pull, she was almost thrown off the boat, so she quickly reinforced her body with magic before starting to pull.

Everyone's attention quickly turned to Yelena as they surrounded her, ready to help.

Natasha also quickly looked at the fish and was surprised to see a huge salmon that was 7 meters long.

Its sharp teeth pulled hard on the hook, trying to escape.

"Do you also want to have a challenge, woman-fish?" Natasha joked.

"No, hurry up and help me," Yelena said, her face flushed.

Natasha chuckled before hugging her sister from behind and putting her own hands on the fishing rod.

She quickly started to pull while reeling in the line.

Slowly but steadily, the fish came out of the water until it reached the surface.

Natasha quickly killed it with magic before pulling it onto the boat.

"Wow, it must weigh more than a ton; it's sure to be worth more than a million," Yelena said, excitedly smiling.

The atmosphere turned cheerful as everyone examined the fish.

Meanwhile, Alexei continued to struggle with the tuna, and both were really tired.

Waves could already be seen in the water, indicating that the tuna was quite close to the surface.

Everyone's attention turned back to Alexei as he made his final efforts to get the fish to the surface, apparently feeling that he had reached the surface, the fish thrashed intensely.

"Damn, I'm really tired. Honey, pass me the gun quickly," Alexei said, breathing heavily as his arms shook.

Melina shook her head slightly before passing him a gun.

Alexei held the fishing rod with one hand and used the other to shoot several times in the tuna's head, killing it.

Once the fish stopped moving, Alexei leaned against the edge of the boat, really exhausted.

"Girls, dinner's ready," Alexei said, looking at the whole group before his smile froze as he saw a giant tuna already on the boat.

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