Taking Banner Away

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Kai walked over to Tony and said, "Alright, thanks, Tony. We're done here. Time to clean up and head out."

Tony raised an eyebrow. "Oh? What did you say to him?"

Tony couldn't hide his curiosity. Banner, who had seemed so determined to run, was now calmly following Kai.

Kai shrugged. "I just told him I know how to help him control his condition — and maybe even fix it someday. So..."

Tony chuckled. "Yeah, that sounds convincing enough."

Before they could leave, Ross overheard and stormed over, furious.

"Who the hell are you?" Ross barked. "You can't take Banner! He's property of the military now!"

Ross signaled to his soldiers, who immediately raised their rifles, aiming at Kai and Banner. Surprisingly, they ignored Tony — no one dared mess with him just yet.

Kai smirked. Ross's arrogance was grating, and honestly, Kai had been looking for an excuse to put Ross in his place.

"You think I'm scared of your little army?" Kai muttered under his breath.

The moment the soldiers took aim, Kai flicked his wrist. Every rifle snapped in half, the barrels clattering uselessly to the ground. The cuts were clean, precise — as if they'd been sliced by a laser.

The soldiers muttered uneasily, some gripping their empty holsters in confusion.

"Quiet! Everyone, stay calm!" Ross barked, though his voice lacked its usual confidence. He turned to Kai. "Trying to threaten me, huh? That's not gonna work!"

Kai chuckled, exchanging a look with Tony.

"Relax," Kai said. "That wasn't a threat. Just a little demonstration — to let you know that no one is stopping me from doing what I need to do."

Ross scowled, clearly unconvinced.

"I'm not here to pick a fight," Kai continued. "I'm taking Banner, and that's that. If you try to interfere... well, let's just say things won't end well for you."

Kai knew he was sounding arrogant, but after what the Ancient One had told him last time, he felt confident. He knew Ross wouldn't dare push things further.

Turning away from Ross, Kai looked at Tony and Banner. "Let's go. This is over."

Banner, still dazed, muttered, "Okay... sure..."

"Wait," Tony chimed in, pointing at the ice-covered Abomination. "What about that?"

Kai smacked his forehead. "Right, forgot about him."

He turned back to Tony. "You want him for experiments or something?"

Tony wrinkled his nose. "Nah, he's too ugly. I'd rather not have that thing in my lab."

"Fine, I'll take him then."

With a wave of his hand, Kai teleported the frozen Abomination to his warehouse.

Ross, still watching in stunned silence, didn't dare intervene. He just clenched his fists as Kai and the others walked away.

"Sir?" one of Ross's men asked.

Ross scowled. "I want every piece of information on that guy. Now."

"Yes, General!"

Just as Ross turned to leave, a city official stopped him, demanding compensation for the chaos his soldiers had caused. Ross, already furious, barked at the poor official before storming off, leaving his staff to deal with the mess.

Meanwhile, Kai, Tony, and Banner returned to the yacht. Pepper and Yinsen rushed to greet them.

"Are you okay?" Pepper asked, her eyes flicking between them. "We saw some footage on TV. Looked pretty bad."

Once they were all settled in the yacht's living room, Tony recounted the events in detail.

Kai quickly sent a message to Gear:

*"Gear, how's Samuel doing? Also, I just sent a big ice sculpture your way — don't worry about it for now. I'll explain when I get back."*

Feeling relieved once Gear replied that everything was fine, Kai finally relaxed.

The group shared a drink, introductions were made, and the mood began to lighten — except for Banner, who remained quiet and distant.

Sensing this, Tony tried to cheer him up. "Hey, Banner, now that everything's sorted, why don't we just kick back here for a while?"

Pepper immediately shot that idea down. "Tony, no. After everything that's happened, we need to go home. Banner needs rest — 'you' need rest. We can hang out later."

Tony sighed but knew better than to argue. "Fine... Jarvis, take us back to the port."

Once they reached the dock, Kai led the group back to Tony's villa, ready to regroup and figure out their next steps.

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