Chapter 76: One Punch God
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"The strong should aid and protect the weak. Then, the weak will become strong, and they in turn will aid and protect those weaker than them. That is the law of nature."
— Tanjiro Kamado, (Demon Slayer)
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<(Omniscient POV)>
"He is here, Director Fury. Atem has finally arrived at our location." Phil Coulson shouted into his radio transmitter from the back of his van with renewed enthusiasm as the attractive voice of the New god reached his ears through the various cameras, he and his team were using to monitor the situation. Originally, he and Director Fury had lost all hope after seeing Abomination successfully defeat the Hulk and seemingly absorb his powers during their fight.
Not just Hulk, even Iron Man was thrashed around like a rag doll by the green monster who had currently grown to a height of 20 feet. Abomination was no longer the super soldier or the mutated monster it once was or at least was supposed to be. He had become something much more in his pursuit of power; he had become a true undefeatable monster much above the limits of what humanity could achieve.
"Right now, Atem is the only person we can rely on to defeat the Abomination, Director Fury. None of our other... assets can even come close to that level of power." Coulson tried to explain the reason for his happiness to his boss after sensing some dissatisfaction in his gaze.
"I know, Agent Coulson, and unfortunately that's true. None of Shield's assets or weapons can match the strength of the monster that General Ross has created. Hulk was the only ace in our hand for a threat like this..., at least the only ace that we could somewhat control." Fury answered with a tired sigh from his office before taking a quick glance at a modified pager on his desk, lying just within the reach of his hand.
'Is it finally time to call her? Do I really have no other option?' Fury was constantly debating with himself inside his mind on whether to call his old friend for help against this new threat or not. The last time they had met, she had made sure to let him know that he could call her down to Earth whenever the Earth was in danger. She would come whenever he would call. That was her duty as a fellow human.
But unfortunately, Fury had an ego the size of Abomination's giant ugly balls. He didn't want to ask her for her help that easily. To him, using the favor she owed him for something like this would be the same as using a hydrogen bomb to scare a couple of child molesters. He would much prefer seeing an entire city getting destroyed than calling in that favor prematurely.
No, the only time he could use the transmitter without even the slightest bit of hesitation would be when the entire planet or all of humanity is in danger and there is absolutely no other way to stop it but call her.
"Should we give him some backup as well, since he is our last hope to subdue Subject B? We have a couple of chemical weapons stored in the back of our truck from our last mission in Wuhan." Coulson suggested with a straight face. "It contains a couple of quite destructive toxins and artificial biological diseases. Those will at least slow him down a little, right? Worse comes to worst, we can always just seal off this area later, citing radiation leakage due to the fight between the Hulk and Abomination." He said, voicing out his opinion.
"... You know Coulson, times like these are when you remind me what I truly hired you for besides your excellent moral compass... But no, we won't be releasing biological weapons even if it is our last option. In the words of our great board of directors, the government will be solving this mutated monster soldier problem the American way, by blowing it to Kingdom Come," Fury answered with a dark face.
"Wait, you mean..." Coulson asked, wide-eyed at what his boss was potentially indicating.
"Yes..., get out of there with your team, Coulson. We have already started evacuating the people from the city. The directors have come to a decision. If everything fails to stop Abomination, then they will be using a nuke to flatten the entirety of Harlem along with him... In fact, I doubt they will even be waiting for everyone to finish safely evacuating. As much as I know these motherfuckers, they will probably press the button the moment Atem hits the floor." Fury explained, his teeth gritting in anger and annoyance at his own powerlessness over the situation.
The director of one of the most powerful security and peacekeeping organizations in the world and he couldn't even stop a couple of politicians from nuking his own backyard. 'World's greatest spy my ass. I am just a fucking failure if that nuke gets launches today. Those idiots don't even consider the fact that if the monster could survive the Hulk, there is a chance that it could survive a nuclear explosion too. Plus, he seems to thrive on gamma energy and radiation. What if he becomes even more powerful because of the radiation from the nuclear blast?' He grimly thought with a face that only darkened with each thought.
"Then we can only hope that Atem is truly the god he claims to be and is powerful enough to stop this monster. Otherwise, our history books are going to become a lot thicker soon because this event will most certainly go down as one of the worst decisions ever made by this country." Phil responded before signaling his men to start moving away from the place.
"I agree with you there, Coulson... whatever happens today will change our history forever. God save us all." The director gulped nervously.
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<(Atem POV)>
Almost the entire sky over the city was covered with massive clouds of smoke as the moon barely visible in the sky, cast shadows across the broken concrete around the destroyed city of Harlem. And in the middle of all that destruction, I was currently facing Abomination, his veins pulsing with gamma radiation, his teeth twisted in an ugly snarl, and his monstrous form dwarfing even the nearby rubble.
'He looks more like the Doomsday from the Batman vs Superman movie than the Abomination I remembered from the MCU. Just what type of weird cocktail did the army give him to make him into... this?' I wondered while giving him a once over.
Also, it was no surprise that the guy was immensely strong. The MCU Hulk had probably never even reached this level of strength in his life. The Abomination of this World was definitely a much stronger gamma mutate, especially now that he had absorbed the Hulk's powers as well.
But of course, he was still not a Doomsday level threat. Perhaps if he had defeated and successfully absorbed the World War Hulk or some other powerful version of the guy, it could have been possible. But since neither was Abomination able to absorb that level of gamma energy from this 'not-so-much enraged' Hulk and nor did he have the power to grow stronger as he got angrier himself, this Abomination still hadn't reached the level where he could destroy scores of heroes and entire planets alone.
"Do you need any sort of support, master? The mutate looked extremely dangerous on TV before the live feed got disconnected, so a lot of your lovers have become worried for your safety. Some even wanted to come here to fight alongside you." Zoya's impassive voice echoed into my ears.
"No, I won't be needing any support for this, thanks for asking though. But do me a solid and take control of all the cameras around us, will you? Also, see if any media stations will let you go live, especially the ones we own. If they don't, just record the footage. We will be playing it on TV later. It is finally time I show myself to the entire world." I decided. "Enough hiding in the shadows. It is time to come to the light."
While I whispered my orders to Zoya, Abomination seemed to have noticed me and gave me a once-over. "Another insect? Do you think you can defeat me too? I'm even stronger than the HUlk, his BETTER! None of you puny little humans can even dream of defeating me anymore!"
"Ah, yes. The Hulk. Quite truthfully, I was a hardcore fan of that guy once... You know what people used to say about the Hulk in the comics: 'Absorbing the Hulk's strength is like eating a ghost pepper—seems like a good idea until it isn't.'" I said with a light chuckle as I remembered all the times absorbing the Hulk's powers had gone sideways for his villains.
However, before I could finish giving him my advice, he roared "I'll crush you!" And with that, Abomination lunged forward, his fist glowing with gamma energy. Even the ground trembled as he quickly closed the distance between us. Swinging a massive fist aimed at my head, it tried to make me into a paste of blood and flesh in one hit.
"Seriously, you should try yoga. It's great for some stress relief." I suggested with a smile before deciding to make a move to defend myself.
And then it happened—the moment that would forever echo through the history of this world and would be remembered as the moment a god showed his true powers. As Abomination's fist neared my jaw, the shockwave generated from the momentum of the hit-alone shattered windows three blocks away while heating the surrounding air. But unfortunately for him, the fist never connected with my face. Instead, the arm he had just used to try to punch me could no longer be seen now, it was cut cleanly from the elbows like the entire thing had just disappeared in plain air.
Seeing his, Abomination stumbled "Wha—what sorcery is this?"
"Normally, it's called 'Plot Convenience' in comics and anime, but you can also call this the power of the void. Now, let's wrap this up. I have much better ways to spend my night than hanging out with a bunch of muscle-crazed guys." I honestly answered though looking at his face, he didn't seem to buy my explanation.
But Abomination wasn't done. He rallied; his eyes glowing green while the bony protrusions all over his body gleamed in a brilliant green color. He clenched his left arm as tightly as he could before swinging again, aiming directly for my chest this time. But this time again, I just merely raised my eyebrows before getting ready to land a hit myself.
"You should move Doom," I murmured without looking in any particular direction as I channeled the power of domination throughout my body.
*BOOM* A sonic boom exploded around us as both of our fists collided with unimaginable forces. Even though actual destruction to our surroundings because of our punch was minimal since most of the impact was directly absorbed by Abomination's monstrous body, the state of his body itself was the same as a twig against a hurricane. His skin cracked, bones shattered, and his gamma-infused muscles disintegrated under the influence of my raw strength and corrupting energy. My punch effortlessly tore through him, unraveling his very atoms.
Within just a second of the punch, Abomination simply didn't exist anymore. All that was left of the green monster was his liquefied jelly-like form splattered across the ruins and drops of his blood descending from the sky like rain. As the ground absorbed his foul remains, the very air began to smell of rotten flesh and putrid blood.
''... This smell... I feel like puking now." I thought out loud to myself while inspecting the bloody remains of Abomination all around the place which quite surprisingly was red, much different from Hulk's green blood.
Seems like forming a thin layer of protective energy barrier around me at the last moment was quite effective. At least, it saved me from being completely drenched in rancid blood.
***
<(Omniscient POV)>
"Doom doesn't like being covered in rotten blood," Dr. Doom looked like he had dodged a bullet as he examined the place where he was previously standing which was currently covered with blood while also being half-destroyed from the power of Atem's blow. Even the building he was standing on looked like it had suffered due to the pressure of the strike that the Metahuman God released.
If he had ignored Atem's words or delayed his reaction for even a few seconds, he would have to suffer the consequences.
'It seems that even the sky couldn't be completely safe from his power!' Victor Von Doom muttered to himself as he saw the smoke and dust clouds quickly clearing from the sky due to the unbelievable amount of force Atem had used in that one single punch.
"So, this is what true strength means."
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