Chp. 84 Helping in the background

"This is what I was trying to explain!" Samuel Sterns was panicking as he tried turning off the device that is now turning Blonsky into the Abomination.

"I don't know what you've been ladling into yourself." Sterns looked panicked but was not scared as he faced the slowly transforming Blonsky.

"But clearly it worked. Let's assume you don't understand a word that I'm saying, but if you'll just get back on the table, I can fix this." Sterns said while Paul was watching this through his mind feeling a bit surprised at how nonexistent was the self-preservation instinct of this guy is.

Blonsky who is now turning into full abomination was standing menacingly in front of the small scientist but even then the guy wanted the monster to go back into the table with no fear.

Paul even saw earlier how he had total disregard of taboos in experimentation not fearing the government at all because his curiosity has triumphed over his moral reasoning, if he even has one.

So Paul who is currently driving the camper van in a hidden tunnel he recently made under the New York sewer system was now going to a corner where the ceiling collapsed and dropped down showing him and the passengers the alleyway where the secret passage is connected.

'This guy is too dangerous, if I let him become the supposed character The Leader then he might bring a lot of trouble.' Paul thought as he placed a thought in Abomination's head since the guy is currently muddled in his thirst for power.

*GROWL!*

Abomination growled and swung his arms full force that it snapped the upper half of Samuel Sterns towards the room making Paul feel a bit guilty since he just wanted to have abomination flick his arms and make Sterns land on the floor breaking his neck, not this total crushing scene.

'Welp, at least he won't get up from that hahahaha….' Paul chuckled in his mind guiltily but he just shrugged it off, he too has no form of righteous moral compass but at least he also does not have the ambition to suddenly rule the world and enforce his will to the people.

He could have done it already but for him that was just a hassle to do if he even tried, why bother when he can just do what he wants and relax doing random shit.

"Oh guys there might be a moment where you might need to take action so there is a walk in closet there in the back, I have lots of stuff there so can you find one that will at least hide your faces?" Paul looked at the three Eternals on the Van making Gilgamesh look at Thena who was thoughtful but nodded nonetheless.

"Why? What is happening?" Kingo asked as he looked curiously at the streets wondering how much New York has changed.

"We are going to Harlem since there is something very troubling in that area." Paul said but he was already at work as he sent subconscious messages within people's mind to somehow clear the area as they had the urge to do something else somewhere far from the place where the battle might happen.

"Okay, let us see what you have here. Wait do you have things that fit me?" Kingo asked as he saw Thena go first to pick her outfit.

"They are all self-adjustable, so you can pick anything you want but never forget a mask to cover your face." Paul saw Abomination rampaging against the forces General Ross has left making him click his tongue in pity to the soldiers who were just following orders.

So he assisted them in making the driver seem like a character out of Fast and the Furious as he drove the military jeep drifting in the streets.

Even the driver was surprised at his skills but he went on escaping where he 'felt' would slow down the monster chasing them.

Paul waved his hands and live footage was shown in the Holo screens making Thena who had finished changing into a full plated armor.

"These are well made." Thena said as she was surprised at the sturdiness of the armors she found in the large walk-in cabinet.

"Whoa you have armors in there too? It thought it would just be costumes!" Kingo was starry eyed as he ran towards the closet with Gilgamesh.

"Oh dear…" Karun the valet of Kingo was looking worried for the people almost killed by Abomination's rampage.

"Give me a real fight!!" Abomination raged as he destroyed cars and threw buses around the block but no one knew that there was no deaths yet but at most was just some injuries that were non-lethal to human life as Paul was watching over the event.

This time the helicopter of General Ross with Bruce in it has turned around as they have been alerted with the presences of abomination.

Just in time for Nick Fury to suddenly call and ask General Ross about this incident while admonishing him.

"Now what in the hell are you up to now General? It seems to me another project of yours has gone loose, did the last one never teach you anything at all or you are just that dumb?" Fury did not mince his words at all even when the General outranked him.

"You better mind your words there Colonel, this is a secret project of the government so do not place your hands in this." Ross was angry at Fury and reminded him of his position.

"And what part of this motherf*cking freak show is a secret?! The Council is totally alerted General, so it is not me that should mind my words but you should now mind your actions since in my count, this is Strike two. One more and the Council might just make a decision that will make your oh so 'secret' ass sitting on pins." Fury emphasized the word 'General' as he showed no care for the title since the World Council is totally much higher in authority than the General.

"I'll handle this on my own Nick, so your agents are not needed here." Ross looked at Banner who was already at the edge of the chopper looking down on the streets that Abomination is rampaging on.

"And how are you going to handle a ten foot tall beast that caught a rocket barehanded General? Because in my knowledge you don't have any resources down there and Stark's cannons were destroyed in Culver University." Fury had a no nonsense look at his face as he stared at Ross in the screen.

"Already sent it." Ross said as Banner had jumped but he was unsure as he looked at the rapidly descending body of Banner.

*BANG!*

A loud sound was heard as Bruce pierced through the street making Betty gasp in horror while Ross frowned a bit but still hoping Banner would transform.

"Holy f*ck that guy just killed himself!" Kingo said as he put on a mask while watching the Holo screens with Gilgamesh and Thena.

"That guy reminds me of Enkidu, but much dangerous." Gilgamesh said as he looked at Abomination while Thena was also glaring at the powerful creature.

"That will not be our problem guys, I think it is better that you would not reveal yourself yet so we'll be helping the injured and trapped in some demolished parts where Abomination has ravaged." Paul waved his hand and a full body armor as well as a warhammer appeared on his body.

"GRAAAGHH!!!!" this time Hulk's roar was heard as he just emerged from the hole he fell unto while the ones on the helicopter sighed in relief seeing Hulk emerge.

"Hulk!" Blonsky growled as he heard the roar and was excited seeing his adversary.

"Whoa mama that guy can turn too?" Kingo was shocked as well as Karun as they watched the Holo Screen.

"Okay guys let us go help some people…" Paul said as he walked out the parked van while Thena followed but they were stunned as they found a figure hiding behind a corner of a building watching the fight of two gigantic creatures without fear.

The person also noticed the presence behind her as she looked if it was civilians as it was too dangerous for them to be near this vicinity.

Just as she looked two more people came out the van making her stare at the four armored people but suddenly one of them exclaimed.

"Makari!? What are you doing here?" Kingo said as he opened the visor of his helmet while the other was shocked at the appearance of her friends.

"I am watching this, this looks cool." Makari said in sign language while realizing that it was Thena and Gilgamesh that was with Kingo but she cannot recognize the other one.

"I know right? They look strong too, well go inside and get changed because we'll be saving people now." Kingo said while also talking in sign language.

"What?" Makari was confused but Thena looked at her with Icy eyes making her listen.

"Change and cover you face, we'll explain later." Thena said making Makari walk inside the Van and was surprised at the interior.

Paul on the other hand was surprised as well since he thought of looking for Makari last so he did not expect that he would find her here in New York.

'I guess as a speedster she can go anywhere she wants.' Paul though as he watched the gruesome and sweaty fight of Hulk and Abomination, it was much more barbaric than the movie one and more and more people were getting hurt that Paul felt he might not be able to save all if he keeps tarrying.

"I'll go first, also see that blue gem on your helmet or bracers? Press on them to turn on the anti-surveillance function so no camera could record you." Paul then ran forward and went to help people out from an over turned bus.

Thena also walked calmly as she conjured a spear made of cosmic energy and sliced apart cars or things that were blocking the way of some people to run away from the fight.

Gilgamesh also assisted but he was alert as he watched the two titanic monsters duke it out with each other.

"Tsk, no finesse at all in their brawl." Gilgamesh commented as he helped injured people to be placed gently on the sidewalk to have them prepared to be taken away by EMTs.

Kingo was also helping as he assisted people in going away, Makari was able to change fast and showed her speed in pulling people left and right away from the fight.

Their presence was noticed by police and even General Ross who was shocked there were powered people helping civilians.

Then he remembered Fury's words making him frown more thinking that SHIELD was getting too powerful for his tastes.

But while this incident is happening, Tony Stark and Rhodey was having a showdown against the dozens of AIM drones that had been hijacked by Anton Vanko.

A wolf clone was present there ensuring lives were safe but some accidents did happen, but they were planned by Paul since the hustle and bustle of the Stark Expo became prime place for con artist, kidnappers and even some sexual offenders to be present.

Some got hit by a bullet in the knee, some was hit by a falling drone and the sexual offenders was hit by bombs making them into mush.

But Paul made sure their ID's survive and some 'dropped' evidence from their body that showed their involvement in various crimes.

There were also pedophiles that were killed because they tripped and bunch of middle school students stampeded on them therefore killing them.

Few people who attempted to kidnap and rape some people with many crimes recorded in their names also got into an accident but they were caught by some Gay rapist that violated them as Paul nudged their thoughts to attack these people.

He did not have all bad guys punished since some are just pick pockets while others were hackers who wanted to see the Expo.

The ones that did not find any mercy was the Child rapist that kidnap and traffic organs of their victims, though only one was present but Paul placed some incriminating evidence on the man's jacket and have him stumble in panic at a nearby Gay Bar.

There he dropped a wallet full of pictures of his victims and notes on what he did to them, most Gay men here were just Burly Bikers with gentle natures but when one found the wallet and identified the person who hid there from the battle in the Expo.

The guy was suddenly assaulted by the dozens of men there and was victimized of crimes that no men should ever face, except for men who has a taste for these things.

There were also women who cheated and manipulated men especially gullible ones that were present in the Expo to find a rich innocent wallet to abuse.

Some were injured in the event like tripping while running and their silicone bags in their breast popped after falling down.

Or a woman who had a recent nose job got hit by being elbowed by a Drone.

One who stumbled and her purse fell in the floor where most of her credit cards were.

There was one as well who ran with her date/victim only to have a drone fall near them in a pond where water splashed to her face showing how thick the makeup she applied was so the guy left in a hurry in another direction.

Rich arrogant men who dropped gold rings which were picked up by a homeless man with a kind heart but needed money to start over so Paul influenced him into selling the ring on a street nearby where an honest pawn shop is present and gave him the drive to do better in life.

A lot was happening but Paul was having fun as he did all he could to make some bad people suffer, no one would know anyways and he knew that they deserved to feel the things Paul did unto them.

He sat there in the middle of the panicking crowd watching the many drones falling down one by one but he also made sure that they were far from the people since they have bombs in then.

"Agent Romanoff, do you hear me?" Paul said as he put on an ear piece that connected to Natasha's who was warning Stark of Ivan Vanko's arrival on the dome where Rhodey and Tony Stark just finished up the drones.

"Paul, nice hearing from you. I thought that you were going to Harlem or is this a clone of yours?" Natasha said as she heard the voice of her lover.

"A clone, listen Nat. There are bombs in each Drone so warn the people not to go near them since they are rigged to blow if Ivan Vanko dies. He too has bombs installed in that Powersuit that he is wearing so he could take down Stark with him." Paul said while taking pictures as he was calmly sitting down the wide park.

"A bomb?! What bomb?! Where?" Pepper's voice sounded out as somehow she also has an earpiece of her own.

"Uhm excuse me, who is this and what clone are we talking about here?" Tony's voice souned our as well.

"Tony watch out man! We are getting our ass handed here so focus on the fight!" Rhodey's voice also was heard in the coms.

"Not my fault you have Faulty AIM tech on your armor made by Hammer of all people, ex-wife haha…" Tony laughed as he dodged another attack from Whiplash.

"Okay, I've warned the police and responders in the area to steer clear of the fallen drones. You two make sure that Vanko stays alive so he cannot detonate the bombs." Natasha had been furiously contacting various stations to warn them about the bombs.

"Okay, I'll have my employees warned as well." Pepper said as she had many workers of Stark company to leave immediately from the premises as well as the cops that were present that arrested Justin Hammer.

"He can activate it remotely as well, so you better stall and hack inside his armor to prevent the bombs from exploding. He does not know that you all know of the bombs anyway." Paul advised but this time Rhodey said in the coms.

"Goddammit Tony why would you tell him that?!" Rhodey was exasperated as Tony disconnected from the coms and tried to get under Vanko's skin.

But he had inadvertently mentioned the bombs, Vanko was indeed shocked so when he suddenly sent the two electrical whips tying down Stark and Rhodey, he also activated the bombs earlier.

"Dammit Stark!" Natasha said as she hurriedly connected to the police and responders to get away from the drones.

"Rhodes, I got an idea." Tony said as both he and Rhodey were being strangled by the electrical whips of Vanko.

"You want to be a Hero?" Stark said.

"What?!" Rhodey was confused as he looked at Tony.

"I could really use a sidekick. Put your hand up." Tony said making Rhodey understand.

"This is your idea?" Rhodey was not sure though if this was sane or not.

"Yep." Tony said while Paul looked over seemingly interested on what will happen as he had some drones thrown to the sky since they were rather in populated areas but thinking about it he threw them all up.

The beeping noise of all drones were in tandem to the explosion made when two repulsor beams meet each other.

The dome where they were in was in shambles as Vanko was thrown back and stunned.

Paul intervened as he used a small telekinetic attack on the trigger for Vanko's bomb to prevent him from going Kamikaze.

But the other drones became like fireworks exploding in the sky which awed many watching as it was in total contrast to the panic they had just experienced.

This did lead many to question what made the broken drones fly up in unison and explode as the people were convinced that someone was watching over them.

"Thanks Paul." Natasha murmured under her breath as she felt gratitude Paul saved many people.

Meanwhile Stark and Rhodey was regaining their wits about them since the explosion was quite substantial. They groggily walked towards Vanko who's armor was broken and in his face burned.

"Y-you lose." Vanko said which made Stark and Rhodey frown but this time Paul frowned as well as five drones still existed and flew towards the direction of Pepper.

*Beep*

*Beep*

"Yo whoever said it, he's right. Vanko is rigged to blow." Rhodey said as the arc reactor on Vanko started glowing red.

Paul frowned as he had realized other than the bomb, the Arc reactor itself was the one also rigged to explode.

"Pepper!" Tony said this as he suddenly flew away with Rhody following behind.

They went to chase the drones and shot one down from the skies this time there were no people in the park so Paul let them explode.

Two drones separated and went to stop Iron Man and Iron Patriot but Rhodey faced them off on his own.

"I got this you go get Pepper!" Rhodey said as he went to destroy each drone

Stark was able to destroy another one as he chased but one was still able to reach Pepper while explosion was imminent.

Tony dived down and hugged Pepper while Rhodey shot the last drone but also turned away as he and Tony flew up to avoid the explosion.

"Whoa!" Pepper was shocked at Starks sudden arrival but instinctively hugged him as he flew away with her in his arms.

*BOOM!*

Paul looked at the skies seeing Rhodey land on a rooftop nearby feeling tired while Tony was bringing Pepper to that same rooftop.

"Argh!!" Pepper panted as soon as they landed on the rooftop while pushing Stark away.

"Ughmm!" Tony grunted as the helmet malfunction making him hurry in taking it off.

"Oh, my god! I can't take this anymore." Pepper exclaimed as panic started to rush in.

"You can't?" Tony was surprised as he heard Pepper say this.

"I can't take this." Pepper said.

"What do y- Look at me." Tony gestured to his armor's statr as he looked at Pepper.

"My body literally cannot handle the stress. I never know if you're gonna kill yourself or-or wreck the whole company." Pepper said as the pressure felt immense for her in taking care of Tony.

"I think I did okay." Tony pointed out towards the fires in the park and another explosion happened as he finished saying this.

"I quit. I'm resigning…" Pepper said as she caught her breath and calmed down a bit. "..that's it."

"What did you just say? You're done?" Tony looked confused at Pepper but he then went thoughtful as he continued. "That's surprising. No, it's not surprising. I get it."

Tony walked towards Pepper as he talked. "You don't have to make any excuses."

"I…I'm…I'm not making any excuses." Pepper tried to defend herself but Tony cut her off.

"Well you actually were making excuses but you don't have to." Tony rebuked but Pepper tried to reason.

"No, I wasn't making an excuse. I'm actually very justified." Pepper said as she looked at Tony's face.

"Listen hey, hey. You deserve better." Tony's words made Pepper pause unsure what to say.

"Well…" looking down Pepper saw Tony holding her hands.

"You've taken such good care of me." Tony talked sincerely as he looked at Pepper with gentle eyes. "Been to a tough spot and you got me through it, so…"

"Right?" Tony looked at Pepper's eyes as he felt grateful for her presence.

"Thank you."

"Yeah."

"Thank you for understanding."

"Yeah, yeah. Let's talk clean-up."

"I'll handle the transition. It'll be smooth." Pepper said as she agreed with Tony.

"Okay. What about the Press? Because you only had the job for a week, that's gonna seem…" Tony talked as he slowly inched closed to Pepper.

"Well, with you it's like dog years." Pepper rebutted.

"I know."

"I mean, it's like presidency…" Pepper said but this time Tony was so close that he pulled her over to have an intense kiss with each other.

The two were so caught up in their moment that Paul as well as Rhodey was there awkwardly waiting for the two to finish.

Paul was in the shadows while Rhodey was sitting on a metal box unsure what to say.

Soon the two were woken up from their moment as they ended their kiss with Tony looked at Pepper with an expression like he cannot seem to understand something.

"Weird?" Tony asked.

"No, it's not weird." Pepper shook her head as she felt breathless as she found a great feeling surging inside her as she looked at Tony's face.

"It's okay right?"

"Yeah."

"Run that by me again." Tony said as he kissed Pepper again.

"I think it was weird." Rhodey cannot help himself from speaking up while Paul slowly walked out the shadows nodding as the two lovers were startled at their presence.

"You guys look like two seals fighting over a grape." Rhodey said as he looked to the side seeing Paul as well.

"Can't you have just given them their moment?" Paul asked as he walked calmly towards the three. They suddenly found his voice to be somewhat familiar so they understood that he was the one that warned them of the bombs on the drones.

But the moment was still awkward since the two were caught redhanded by two people while they were drowned in their thoughts.

"I had just quit, actually."

"Yeah, so we're not…"

"You don't have to do that, we heard the whole thing." Rhodey said as he looked at Paul who also nodded.

"Both of you should get lost." Tony said while a bit embarrassed his moment was indeed ruined.

"I was here first and he too as well. Go get a roof of your own." Rhodey smilingly said as he knew his best friend was totally embarrassed.

"hahaha…I thought you were out of one liners." Tony said as he looked at Rhodey.

"That's the last one." Rhodey shrugged his shoulders as he looked at Paul who was out of place there.

"You kicked ass back there by the way." Stark said as he hugged Pepper by the waist closer to him.

"Thank you. You, too. Thanks for the warning as well man." Rhodey nodded then looked at Paul.

 "Listen, my car got taken out in the explosion so I'm gonna have to hang on to your suit for a minute, okay?" Rhodey said as one of the drones he shot down totaled his car.

"Not okay. Not okay with that." Tony said as he looked at his best friend.

"It wasn't a question." Rhodey said as his helmet closed and flew off from the roof while the three watched as he left.

"I'll leave you two love birds alone." Paul smiled since he already made an impression and walked to the shadows vanishing surprising Stark and Pepper.

"Where'd he go?" Pepper said as she looked left and right where Paul suddenly went.

"Wow, hope Jarvis picked up on that cause that's a cool way to make an exit." Tony said then looked at Pepper.

"How are you gonna resign if I don't accept?" Tony smiled as he looked at Pepper making her giggle a bit.

[Harlem]

The battle of two gigantic monsters was coming to an end as Hulk and Abomination had a final confrontation near a ruined building.

Ross and Betty were inside a down helicopter with unconscious soldiers which did not die this time since Paul protected them.

Kingo and the others were quite busy helping the injured and panicked people while Gilgamesh was standing close in case the uglier looking one escapes.

'Hmmm, so this banner is the Mark Ruffalo looking one huh.' Paul's lion clone was beside him watching as well thoughtful as he watched the two burly monsters fight.

In the end Hulk triumphed as he showed his ability to get stronger as more rage and anger wells up within his body.

Hulk was quite drowned in anger as he slowly choked the Abomination using the large chains nearby. But Betty was still able to appeal to Hulk and stopped him from committing murder in front of all the people that are watching nearby.

"I really can't understand New Yorkers, they see two gigantic monsters fight they stay and watch not even attempting to run away. Police I can understand since it's their job to investigate things like this but man these people have no sense of self-preservation." Paul scratched his head as he said this to Gilgamesh while Makari, Kingo and Thena arrived near them watching the events unfold.

"Damn, that guy could make you run for your money G." Kingo looked at Hulk and felt that even their strongest might have trouble if he faced this monster.

"What is that? Who are you?" Makari had helped but she was still full of questions.

"Later, what's you plan for this?" Gilgamesh asked after calming down Makari.

"It's already here." Paul looked up and saw a helicopter arrive with Nick Fury on it.

This time, Fury made sure the World council knows of Ross' blunder and had Fury go to take in the so called 'assets' since some of them were HYDRA and they wanted to know how they were made.

Hulk after calming down saw the helicopter and instantly bolted after giving a goodbye look towards Betty.

Blonsky was still weak and unconscious as Fury stepped out of the chopper.

"By orders of the President of the United States I say buzz off General, this is now my matter to take care of." Fury said as he arrived in front of Ross.

"Nick." Ross growled as he felt hate for this man in front of him.

"Thaddeus." Fury said as he looked squarely at Ross in the face.

"You know better that I have the right equipment to restrain such a being, so what trick did you use to convince the president in making take over?" Ross said as he did not want Blonsky to be taken away.

"You still think you've got the best toys there is? Well how about I tell you that I have a rather wealthy guy on my side that knows how to make a thing or two." Fury looked smug at Ross feeling glad that the guy somehow is facing setbacks in his life.

"Stark…" Ross understood since there was only one person he knows of that could understand what to make in building a cage to hold such a monster and was quite rich.

"That's right, so pack up your men cause my not-so-sorry black ass is taking over and General… stop labeling people fugitive left and right." With that Fury turned around and left to have his men slowly take Blonsky away.

"Tsk… Betty let's go." Ross was pissed but when he turned his daughter was nowhere to be seen making him sigh in regret how estrange he was with his daughter now.

Meanwhile Paul and the Eternals have returned to the camper Van where the three were catching Makari up to speed on why they were there.

In the end Makari was stunned 'silent' learning about the real reason they were here unable to understand why and it almost made her break down if not for Paul helping in calming her down.