Vol 2 Ch 46

(Meanwhile)

Banner had returned with Garfield resting on his shoulder. He was feeling tired from this entire ordeal. The lack of information was grating on his nerves. His failure to protect his son was making him a little angry.

Bruce took a deep breath. It seems that accepting Hulk as a part of himself has fundamentally changed him emotionally.

For now, he put him down on the sofa. Betty pushed him aside, who began to check up on him urgently. Looking him up and down, she saw part of his skin cut and burned.

Her eyes gaining a predatory glare, she turned on Banner.

"Who hurt my baby?" Her voice was cold and void of any reason. Banner had never seen her like this. Her face was expressionless, but her eyes contained boundless rage, her hand clenching and unclenching by her side. Banner was honestly scared right now. 

"I don't know. I was hoping to find out after he wakes up." Banner answered warily, making himself as small of a target as possible. That anger must not be directed towards him at all costs. Where was Loki when you needed to throw him under the bus?

Garfield stretched and began to wake up.

It was time for some answers.

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After some time, Garfield tells him what happened.

It was his own edited version. His meeting with poachers but not poachers. Why else would a lion be present in the room he was trapped in?

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"Garfield Banner." Each word punctuated and emphasized. 

Garfield looked at Betty. 

Betty lost her anger a little bit when she saw Garfield with his big eyes looking at him. His ears dropped because he could hear the reprimand coming in her voice.

No. Betty thought to herself. If she did not punish Garfield, he would never learn. So she steeled herself and spoke. "You are grounded, young man. We will talk soon about what you can and can't do."

Betty's voice softened. "What would we have done if something had happened to you."

Garfield's ears drooped even lower, if possible.

Betty took a deep breath to calm herself. "Now get ready for dinner and get Ace."

Garfield nodded eagerly and turned into a bird to search for Ace.

"And now you." Betty turned her attention to Banner. "Why does he not have a tracker of some kind." 

Banner gulped. It was his turn now.

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(Loki Pov)

Loki returned home to a depressed-looking Banner.

"What happened?"

And so Banner told Loki the entire series of events that took place.

"Hahahahaha. It seems that I am rubbing off on the little tyke." Loki began to laugh again at the end.

"It's not funny." Bruce sighed.

"Should we start sparing with each other now?" There was an extremely serious look inside his eyes.

"I guess so. It would be good for both of us to be prepared." The cheerful and joking mood gone. 

Bruce nodded at that. 

It may be time to test the training room.

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(With Ace and Garfield)

It was after dinner time. Both Ace and Garfield met up in secret in the garden.

"Ace, come on, I don't wanna disappoint mom and dad."

"Don't worry. I will keep an eye on you." Ace assured Garfield. "I will ensure you don't wander off this time."

"But -"

Garfield was interrupted this time as Ace dragged him off. " I just want to see that new place that Dad built."

They both came upon a dome-shaped building. The moonlight illuminated their path.

"I don't like this Ace, like at all." Garfield continued. " I can't hear any sound from that building. You don't understand how unnatural it is."

Ace paused as she heard Garfield. Now that Garfield mentioned it. She could not even hear the crickets chirping. For the first time, a pang of fear crossed her heart. But she still steeled her heart. Her hand clutched the necklace her father had given her. He told her to break it whenever she was in danger, and he would run towards her.

With her newfound courage, she continued on and finally saw a door.

And so both of them entered and found themselves in a room. A dojo if she had ever seen one. With tatami mats in the form of an arena. The space inside seemed to stretch on with no ends. Suddenly, the ground changed, and it turned into a rainforest. 

The space inside was much larger compared to the outside. There was even a blue sky.

"So cool." Garfield extended his hand, intent on touching the trees before him. Instead, a shield shimmered into existence. Ace tapped the shield as well as ripples formed in front of her.

"I recommend that you don't mess with that. It is here for your protection."

Both of them turned around to see a bald lady behind them.

"Oh hey, bald lady. "

Ace smacked Garfield on the head to stop him from saying anything more. "Seriously, that's rude."

Her attention back at the lady, she asked. "Who are you?"

"your father's mentor." The bald lady smiled at both of them. A nostalgic look inside her eyes. "Loki can truly change the future." The ancient one remembered the future of the girl. She was experimented on and later acquired by Cadmus. A child turned into a weapon for the sole purpose of destroying Overwatch. Tony rushes to find a way to save her, and then the girl dies in Batman's arms. It was liberating to not worry about the future anymore. Her role as the Ancient one prevented her from interfering as well.

"Besides, both of your dads are training right now." Yao turned back to look within the shield as she saw Hulk clash with Loki. Both of them use their physical strength. Bruce tries to control and direct his strength, and Loki uses his incredible acrobatics to dodge Hulk. He is honing his skills.

"That looks so cool," Garfield said, stars shining. "Beat him up, Dad." Garfield started cheering.

Ace snapped out of her daze and started to support her father as well. She was not about to be outdone by Garfield right now. Her father was the best. "Kick his butt, dad."

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Both Loki and Banner felt Ace and Garfield enter the room. But they both ignored them for the moment as they continued their spar.

It was only when they heard Garfield and Ace cheering for them that they made their fight a little showy.

Hulk yelled out loud, a large slam with both hands coming down upon him. Loki backflipped out of the way, dodging the attack. However, Hulk's raw strength caused a shockwave when both arms pounded on the ground. Loki, in the middle of his backflip, was thrown away. Maneuvering himself in midair, Loki quickly made hand signs, and with a deep breath, he let loose a giant fireball at Hulk. [Fire Release: Giant Fireball technique.]

The giant fireball engulfed Hulk. Both of his arms crossed over his face. 

Loki did not let up, firing one giant fireball after another. Each of them curled in their path as they struck one after another.

Hulk had been long obscured by the flaming inferno that had engulfed the land surrounding him.

That was until a giant shockwave was created, dispersing the flames surrounding him. Hulk had brought both hands together in the form of a clap. The feat of strength had created a giant shockwave that had dispersed the flames surrounding him. A slightly black Hulk stepped out. 

It first walked and slowly picked up speed, going from a leisurely jog to a full-on sprint. 

Loki's eyes began to spin into the form of the Mangekyou Sharingan. For the moment, he just manifested a few ribs around him, their color a mixture of blue. And so Hulk punched, and Loki barreled backward, going through one tree after another, his arms crossed over his face. The blue, ethereal-like ribs cracked around him. Hulk had not stopped its momentum, slowly catching up to Loki. With a yell, Hulk grabbed his foot and smashed him around on the ground like a chew toy.

Before he could be smashed down a fifth time, Loki manifested two skeletal hands of his Susanoo, the ethereal ribs almost about to break. Both hands smashed into Hulk, holding him in place momentarily as his hand began to move at a furious pace. 

[Ice Style: Crystal Dragon]

A giant dragon made up of frost smashed into Hulk, and ice began to form around the point of impact as the dragon pushed Hulk back. Hulk impacted on the side of a cliff. Giant Ice crystals further formed with him as the epicenter.

 "First Gate, gate of opening open." The ice cracked as a figure landed in front of Loki. Green wisps surrounded Hulk as he stared into Loki's eyes.

"I guess that this should be enough," Hulk said.

Loki laughed and patted the back of his head. "I guess so."

"Let's greet the little ones."

The shield fell as both Ace and Garfield ran towards them. 

"That was so cool. Can I also turn into a big macho man? " Garfield.

"Dad, I also want to fight like that." Ace ran towards Loki.

Loki paused at that. "Should we start their training? " Loki looked at Hulk, seeking his opinion.

"You will explain that to Betty tomorrow." 

Loki did not hear a no, so he shrugged. He remembered to make a whipping sound.

"Oh yeah, dad. We also saw a bald lady." Garfield said. "After that fight, we turned around, and she was gone," Garfield said, making a puff noise at the end.

"The ancient one." Hulk gazed at Loki, who just shrugged. 

"If she wanted to meet us, she would have just talked to us." Loki shrugged.

"Dad, can I do the green thing at the end? When you were all like blam and just appeared in front of Uncle Loki."

"Sure." There was a smile on Banner's face as he turned back into his human form.

"First, we need to train." Loki had a big smile on his face.

"I want to use fire and ice." Ace interrupted.

Loki nodded. "To do that, we need to exercise."

Garfield tilted his head as Ace got a look into Loki's eyes. They were twinkling. Loki would have fun, meaning the people surrounding him would be miserable. She turned around and attempted to make a run for it, but she was caught by the back of her collar and was hoisted up by Loki.

Loki turned her around, and that smile on Loki's face finally seemed to take a malicious undertone in her view.

 "You don't want to leave Garfield alone, do you? So now, we are going to do plenty of pushups and pullups. We are also going to run a few miles."

"Such exercises in a young body may lead to development problems." Ace gave her last spark of resistance as she stared into Loki's eyes.

"Don't worry. I have special remedies and methods to ensure no development problems." What did she think? Each ninja started their training as a child. "So, let's shout about the flames of youth."