Chapter 13: Versus
Within the mountain ranges of the northern Earth Kingdom, a small town called Milu lay in ruin. Many of its buildings had collapsed and fires burned in them, while rubble was scattered everywhere. People that lived here were working tirelessly to extinguish the fires and tend to their wounded, trying to rebuild their lives. An Earth Kingdom militia was helping the people recover, until the larger military could arrive to deal with the cause of the devastation. Ba Sing Se was mobilizing its troops, but sent an advance agent to fight the threat first.
That advance agent was a short muscular man, who had black hair and sideburns. For traveling he wore a white shirt, blue pants, a black leather jacket, and a wide brown hat. He carried a large closed bag with him, which contained the uniform he used for his line of work. What he does isn't pretty, and Logan is the best there is at it.
When Logan arrived in Milu he found most of the fires put out, the people starting to clean up the rubble in the streets. The militia's colonel was waiting for him, having received a telegram from Ba Sing Se an hour ago. The colonel was an older man with a brown mustache, wearing a brown trench coat and green military beret.
Logan stood next to the colonel and observed the town. "Looks like someone had a bad day."
"It happened about four hours ago, just before dawn," the colonel informed. He started walking with Logan down one of the streets, showing more of the destruction. "The creature was spotted yesterday near the Kingdom/Republic border. This is what happened when it reached civilization."
"Creature?" Logan questioned.
"The Republicans call it the Hulk," the colonel answered. "Intel's sketchy. Department Eight thinks the United Forces has covered something up."
Along the street Logan paused at a wrecked car, seeing a burned doll through a broken window. Logan sniffed the air near the vehicle, catching an unfamiliar but distinctive scent. "Smells… toxic." He looked down at the floor and found several broken crossbow bolts. "Someone tried to fight back. Guess they didn't fight hard enough."
The colonel didn't question how Logan could know that, as that wasn't part of his job. "Department Eight wants you to find and stop the Hulk before it reaches another town or city. And if you can't stop it, kill it."
Logan looked the colonel in the eye, then smiled. "Sounds like fun."
With his orders in mind Logan left Milu, heading into the forested mountains on foot. Once he was out of sight in the woods Logan opened his bag and removed his work uniform, a tight yellow suit with blue arms, blue boots, and blue gloves. It also had a yellow cowl with black around the eyes, which extended back to resemble large black ears. When Logan finished changing into his uniform he packed his travel clothes into his bag, stashing it away in the roots of a tree to pick up later.
On foot Logan walked deeper into the woods, following the toxic scent he picked up earlier. The scent led Logan towards one of the Earth Kingdom's many mountain ranges, which were sparsely populated outside of rural towns. Along the scent trail Logan found strange craters in the ground, as if a large creature had fallen from a great height and compacted the ground on landing. The trail brought Logan up one of the mountains and into snow covered terrain, where he found another strange crater in the snow.
There were footprints in the snow covered crater, which gave Logan reason to pause and examine them. The footprints were huge, far too big to belong to any normal person. Logan followed the large footprints away from the crater, and then he found something even stranger. The size of the footprints abruptly changed along the trail, shrinking to a normal size. The footprints ended at a craggy rock formation, which told Logan that the person making the trail had climbed over it.
As quietly as possible Logan starting climbing the rock formation, taking him up a few dozen feet. Near the top there was a path within the rocks, where thin footprints resumed in grass just slightly covered with snow. The toxic scent was strong here, telling Logan that his prey was near. Logan walked down the path in the rocks and stopped at a corner, hearing someone in a clearing just beyond.
Sitting on a log next to a cliff wall was Bolin, dressed only in tattered pants. Bolin was trying to start a campfire with twigs and grass dug up from under the snow, rubbing his palms with a stick in between to make friction and heat to ignite the grass. He was getting small amounts of smoke in the attempt, but was failing to make fire.
"I wish Mako were here," Bolin muttered, half hoping that mentioning his brother's name would make him appear. Instead he heard a footstep in snow covered grass, and Bolin stood up and turned towards the sound. "Who's there?"
Seeing only a lonely teenager, Logan calmly walked into the clearing. "Kid, what are you doing in the middle of nowhere?"
"I could ask you the same thing," Bolin said.
"I'm tracking," Logan answered, walking closer to Bolin. When they were only a few feet apart from each other Logan caught a stronger whiff of the toxic scent, realizing where it was coming from. Logan slammed Bolin against the cliff wall and held one fist against Bolin's neck, placing his knuckles against the throat. "You smell toxic!"
"Leave me alone!" Bolin yelled, grabbing onto Logan's arm and trying to pry it off. "You don't know…
Bolin was interrupted by a pair of metal claws sliding out of Logan's knuckles, barely missing the sides of Bolin's neck. "Here's the deal bub, there's a third claw that's going to come out if you don't start talking."
Panic coming from the threat of being skewered triggered rage in Bolin, beginning the transformation into the Hulk. A shove tossed Logan across the clearing, slamming into a rock. From further away Logan saw Bolin's body grow larger and muscular, while Bolin's skin turned green. The Hulk stood tall and faced Logan, yelling at the top of his lungs to intimidate Logan.
"Aw hell," Logan muttered.
Hulk swung his fist into Logan's chest, using enough force to launch Logan into the air. He fell to earth in the woods and dented the dirt in his landing, only surviving because of accelerated healing. Logan blacked out for a few seconds, long enough for Hulk to leap after him. At the last second Logan jumped to the side and out of the way, letting Hulk land in and crater the ground that he had just vacated. Logan found himself near the edge of a cliff, hearing the sound of a river at the bottom.
For a moment Logan stared down the Hulk, and then extended all six metal claws from his fists. "Let's do this," Logan muttered.
In response Hulk slammed both fists into the ground, earthbending the entire cliff to collapse beneath their feet. Large slabs of falling stone carried Logan and Hulk into the river below, sinking into the water. Beneath the surface Hulk punched Logan again and again, despite his fists being slowed by water resistance. One uppercut hit hard enough to make Logan burst out of the river, falling down to the shore. Hulk surfaced in the river and swam towards the shore, walking out of the water once his feet could reach the bottom.
Along the shore was a large sharp boulder, which Logan had climbed when Hulk wasn't looking. Logan waited until Hulk walked past, and then he leaped off the boulder and over Hulk. As he dropped down Logan stabbed Hulk's back with all six claws, drawing blood and inflicting intense pain. Logan stabbed Hulk again and again, until Hulk moved backwards and slammed his back into a boulder with Logan in the middle.
When Hulk was finished squishing his opponent Logan fell onto the ground, only needing a breather to get back on his feet. Hulk noticed that Logan wasn't staying down he started pulling rocks from the ground and throwing them. Logan dodged the rocks and ran towards Hulk to stab him again, going for the legs this time. Instead Hulk ripped a slab of stone from the ground and slammed on top of Logan, smashing him into the ground. Hulk slammed the same slab into Logan again, and the slab crumbled in the strike.
"Hulk Smash Little Man! Little Man Leave Hulk Alone!"
Hulk punched Logan's face several times, each hit driving Logan's head into the rock and making his jaw bleed. But Logan's head didn't break apart like a normal head would, an oddity that Hulk didn't care to notice. When it seemed like Logan was staying down Hulk stopped, and he roared at the sky to proclaim his victory. Hulk started to walk away from his opponent, thinking that he was finally going to be left alone.
But after a dozen steps Hulk stopped walking, hearing Logan get back on his feet. Logan stared down the Hulk again, this time with a wide grin. "Okay bub, let's try that again."
Logan ran towards Hulk and jumped upward, slashing his claws into Hulk's left arm. He followed that by landing on Hulk's chest and stabbing it with all of his claws, and then Logan's forward momentum toppled Hulk onto his back. Logan got a few more stabs in before Hulk threw him off, and then both got back on their feet.
Hulk threw more punches at Logan, but they all missed as Logan dodged the large fists. Logan ran underneath Hulk's left hand punch and leaped over Hulk, slashing the left shoulder and then slashing the back again. Logan dodged another strike before getting beneath Hulk, slashing upward into Hulk's chest. Pain from his wounds brought Hulk to his knees, exhausted from the fighting.
There was a pause in the battle as Logan prepared for another strike, ready for round three. But then he heard a distinctive twang sound, recognizing it as a crossbow firing. The sound repeated twenty times in quick succession, each with its own small crossbow bolt piercing Hulk's back. Immediately Hulk fell forward onto his face, and then another small bolt pierced Logan's arm. Logan felt tranquilizers start to take hold, his vision starting to fade.
Turning towards the source of the crossbow bolts Logan saw four people approaching, one of which fired more bolts at Logan with a repeating crossbow. Among the four was an Earth Kingdom man with long dark brown hair and a feral look in his brown coat, a Fire Nation woman with black hair wearing a brown vest and her hands resembled wicked metal claws, a Water Tribe man in red clothes with light brown hair and metal tendrils coming out of his wrists, and the crossbow wielder whose whole body was hidden under a red and black costume.
"Logan, buddy. It's me Deadpool. I shot you…" he fired another crossbow bolt tipped with tranquilizers. "…again."
Rendered unconscious by tranquilizers, Logan was carried away by the people that interrupted his fight with the Hulk. The tranquilizers knocked out the Hulk as well, forcing him to revert to Bolin. While he was being carried away Logan dreamt a familiar dream, composed of broken memories. This dream was a common one, replaying memories from three decades ago.
Logan found himself restrained against a metal wall, bound to it by thick wires that kept his limbs from moving. He was in a laboratory, surrounded by various equipment and scientists examining him. Directly in front of him was a metal barrel with its top removed, allowing Logan to see strange molten metal bubbling in high heat. Next to the molten metal was a bald Earth Kingdom scientist wearing thick glasses and a white lab coat, studying Logan like a wild animal.
"Zon Feng's log: Subject is ready for weaponization." He picked up a sphere of sandstone that fit in one hand, holding it over the molten metal. He crushed the sandstone in both hands to earthbend it into powder, making sure that all of it fell into the metal below. Then he moved his hand in a circle above the metal to earthbend the sand, mixing it with the metal and evenly distributing the new impurities.
"Beginning Adamantium Infusion," Zon Feng continued. Now that the molten metal was bendable Zon Feng used delicate hand motions to command it, making the metal flow like water. Slowly the metal flowed out of the barrel and towards Logan, still hot and bubbling. And then Zon Feng made the metal flow in several small tendrils, each one piercing a different part of Logan's flesh.
Logan screamed as the molten metal seared his flesh, feeling it all the way down to his bones. The pain enveloped every part of his body all at once, as Zon Feng was bending the metal to coat every last bone inside Logan's body. Some of the metal escaped out of Logan's hands, shaping into two sets of three blades each. But the metal was still molten in Logan's body, and only his quickly regenerating flesh kept him alive.
Next Zon Feng started earthbending just the impurities in the molten metal, commanding the earth but not the metal with it. A cloud of dust burst from Logan's skin, leaving the molten metal inside pure and unbendable. Zon Feng earthbended the dust into his hands, shaping it into the same sphere of sandstone it once was. He made certain that he had every last bit of earth that had been used, so that his new weapon could not be metalbended.
Logan awoke to find himself restrained against a wall, eerily similar to the one in his dream. He was also being punched in the face by one of the people that ambushed him in the woods, specifically the Earth Kingdom man with the feral look. Logan knew that face from long ago, back when they were part of the same team. His real name eluded Logan's broken memory, only remembering the alias Sabretooth.
"Wakey-wakey time," Sabretooth said.
Casually leaning against a side wall in the large room was Deadpool, currently twirling a crossbow bolt in his fingers. "Logan, we missed you. Weapon Ten just hasn't been the same without you. Nobody calls me bub anymore. And Omega Red's a…" Deadpool paused, hearing a door open. "He's right behind me isn't he?"
As if on cue the Water Tribe man from the ambush walked through the door, and Logan vaguely remembered him by the alias Omega Red. "One day I will tear out your flippant tongue Deadpool."
"I didn't say it this time," Deadpool said.
Another person walked through the door, who Logan recognized him as Zon Feng. He ignored the others and walked up to where Logan was restrained, examining the condition of his weapon. "Regardless, Weapon Ten is indeed pleased to have you back Logan. We've put considerable time and money into you."
"And pointy things," Deadpool added.
Zon Feng ignored the interruption and continued. "You were our best operative Wolverine, so disappointing." He shook his head, thinking about how Logan had managed to escape his organization over a decade ago. "But you did lead us to Bolin. Of course, you know him better as the Hulk."
"I shot him in the butt," Deadpool interrupted, whipping out his repeating crossbow and holding up a tranquilizer bolt. "With one of these, well several of these."
"Weapon Ten has been pursuing the Hulk since he left Republic City," Zon Feng said. He paused to think about the latest attempt to capture the Hulk, which had resulted in the destruction of the town of Milu. "Unfortunately there was some collateral damage. If only Department Eight had sent you in sooner, who knows how much destruction could have been avoided."
"What do you want with the Hulk?" Logan demanded.
"We want the same thing we wanted with you Logan, a weapon," Zon Feng answered. He gestured to a large table in the corner of the room, where a green lamp and disassembled circular track were stored. "Mindbending has come a long way since the Dai Li pioneered the art. What took them months, I can complete in days."
"A chip off his great granddad's block," Deadpool said.
"When I'm finished, Weapon Ten will have the most powerful creature on the planet at our disposal," Zon Feng continued.
Logan thought about that prospect for a moment, wondering just how much destruction could be caused by a weaponized Hulk. It was a prospect that Logan could not allow. "You should have killed me when you had the chance. Because I'm going to get out of here, I'm going to kill all of them, and then I'm going to cut out your heart."
Zon Feng took a step back, but then grinned. "Wolverine, after I'm done with you, you won't even remember this conversation. I've erased your life before, and I'm going to do it again. All you'll know is that you belong to Weapon Ten."
Having other matters to deal with today, Zon Feng turned away from Logan and walked out of the room. Omega Red followed Zon Feng elsewhere, having nothing better to do with his time. Sabretooth left with both of them, wanting to kill Logan but under orders to leave him alive. But Deadpool remained inside, left alone with Logan.
"Wolverine, you look so sad," Deadpool said, walking up to Logan. "Hey if it makes you feel any better, Lady Deathstrike tried to kill you while you were asleep."
"Better than to have to listen to you," Logan argued.
"Man does she hate you," Deadpool added, while drawing one of his crossbows. "I mean, we all hate you. But Deathstrike really, really hates you." Deadpool paused, noticing something odd. "Hey, am I the only one thinking we've had this conversation before?"
"Yes, yes you are," Logan answered.
"Huh, maybe I'm imagining it?" Deadpool muttered. "Oh well. Hey, you still got that unbreakable skull?" Deadpool pointed his crossbow at Logan's face, shooting at pointblank range. The crossbow bolt pierced Logan's face and broke when it hit the Adamantium in his skull, but the blunt force still knocked out Logan. "Aw darn it…"
This time Logan awoke to finding himself strapped into a metal chair, bound to it by metal restraints on all of his limbs and his chest. He was in a different room, one that was much darker inside and had a stone floor. All around Logan a circular track had been assembled, and on that track was a green lamp. There were motors inside the track and the green lamp was battery powered, upgrades implemented since the days of the Dai Li but still used the basic principles of mindbending.
Standing within the circular track was the Fire Nation woman from the ambush, waiting for Logan to wake up. Unlike the others he'd met today, Logan had crystal clear memories of this enemy. They had first met after Logan escaped from Weapon Ten, before she volunteered for the organization. Logan knew her by the name Yuriko, but she had since abandoned that name and only used her alias Lady Deathstrike.
"You will die today Logan," Deathstrike stated. She held up one of her clawed hands and lightly scratched one of the restraints holding Logan's chest, leaving a thin line in the metal. "It does not matter what Zon Feng says. These are your last breaths."
While Logan struggled against the restraints he saw a door open, followed by Zon Feng and Sabretooth walking inside. Zon Feng scowled at seeing Deathstrike next to Logan, as she was supposed to be elsewhere. "What are you doing here Deathstrike?" Zon Feng demanded. "I'm about to start Wolverine's reprogramming."
"He has to die," Deathstrike said.
"How many times do I need to have this conversation with you?" Zon Feng asked. "He's more valuable alive-"
Suddenly Sabretooth stabbed Zon Feng in the back with both hands, having claw-like fingers that pierced flesh. When Sabretooth removed his hands Zon Feng fell to the floor, and he lost consciousness in the pain but was still alive. "Sorry boss, got to go with the lady on this one."
Deathstrike walked around the Logan and got behind him, right before stabbing her claws through the metal chair into Logan's back. She pulled her hands apart and tore the chair into shreds, along with the back of Logan's shirt and some of his skin. But then Logan threw his head back into Deathstrike's face, knocking her away.
Sabretooth hopped over the circular track in his way, getting up close and punching Logan in the face. Then Sabretooth dug his claws into the metal restraints holding Logan to the chair, tearing them off so he could have some fun killing Logan. Before Logan could attack Sabretooth punched him again, using the blow to turn him around. And then Sabretooth got both arms underneath Logan's and held him in a lock.
"Got to love our healing factors," Sabretooth said. "I'm going to enjoy killing you for days. And then, I think we'll drop the Hulk on an orphanage or something, just for fun."
While Logan was held at bay, Deathstrike slowly approached him. "Logan, for the dishonor you caused my family, you will suffer. And then you will die."
"Sweetheart, you and your family can take your honor and shove it up your bony little-"
Logan was cut off by Sabretooth squeezing harder on his arm lock, preventing him from finishing the insult. But Logan didn't have to finish, as his words were already infuriating Deathstrike even more. Sabretooth noticed the effect on Deathstrike's face, realizing that Logan knew what was about to happen. "Deathstrike, don't!"
With one clawed hand Deathstrike stabbed Logan in the chest, and her claws were long enough to stab Sabretooth as well. A moment of pain broke Sabretooth's lock, just as Logan had planned. Logan headbutted Deathstrike to get her claws out of his chest, and then shoved Sabretooth away. While Sabretooth was recovering Logan punched him in the face several times, only stopping when Sabretooth was out cold.
A loud scream tipped off Logan to Deathstrike's next attack, who was about to slash at him with her claws. Logan dodged the attack and extended his metal claws, slashing them at Deathstrike but missing when she dodged. Deathstrike got in a few slashes on Logan's arms, but his flesh quickly healed. Logan ducked under another attack and then leaped upward, slamming his knee into Deathstrike's face and knocking her out.
As finishing off his enemies would be too time consuming, Logan walked out of the room into a hallway. After a few turns Logan figured he was inside a large industrial complex, intended to house an army of superhuman weapons one day. Right now it housed a small number of mercenaries hired by Weapon Ten, who were running down the same hallway Logan was in to intercept him.
"Target located in Zone 23," one mercenary reported, using a radio to inform the rest of the complex. That mercenary signaled to the others with him, prompting all of them to aim crossbows at Logan. "Take him down."
Logan held up his metal claws and charged at the mercenaries, ignoring shots from their crossbows. When Logan reached the mercenaries he started slashing them with his claws, killing them off one at a time. In just a minute nearly all of the mercenaries had been slain, while one of them started backing away as his comrade's bodies fell.
"Backup!" the mercenary yelled into a radio. "We Need Backup!"
After Logan killed the last mercenary he retracted his claws into his knuckles. And then he calmly walked away, off to find out where Weapon Ten was keeping the Hulk.
Back in the room with the mindbending equipment Sabretooth and Deathstrike regained consciousness, and were joined by Omega Red and Deadpool. Zon Feng was still on the floor, still alive despite his injured back. Deadpool nudged Zon Feng with his foot, getting a weak grunt in response. And then Deadpool turned towards Omega Red.
"Alright Red, pay up," Deadpool said, holding out one hand.
"Fine," Omega Red said, handing over a small pouch filled with Earth Kingdom coins.
"What's that about?" Deathstrike asked.
"Deadpool bet that the boss would be stabbed right here and live," Omega Red answered.
"And I called it," Deadpool added. "Seriously guys, I'm getting some heavy déjà vu here. It's like everything going on today has already been done."
Sabretooth ignored Deadpool's concerns. "Last thing the boss said before the runt gutted him was for us to kill Wolverine."
"Really?" Deadpool questioned. He paused before glancing at Omega Red. "You buy that? No? Yeah, I'm pretty sure the last thing he said would be 'AH! Sabretooth!'"
"We kill Wolverine now," Omega Red insisted, not caring about Sabretooth's blatant lie. "That is all that matters."
"Whatever you say Red," Deadpool said. He took out a crossbow and a sword, holding them in a fancy pose. "I'm up for a little murder, even if it will be tricky to pull off."
In another part of the complex Logan started checking every room he could find, and eventually found the one he was looking for. Inside he found Bolin restrained to a metal chair, just like he had been earlier. There was mindbending equipment set up and ready to go to work, only lacking an operator to begin the process. Bolin was asleep in the chair, as there was nothing else he could do at the moment.
Logan walked up to the chair and used his claws to cut through the restraints, and then he shook Bolin until he woke up. "Come on, wake up."
"Huh…" Bolin groaned, slowly becoming conscious. He saw Logan and pushed away from him, which Logan let him do. "Not you again…"
"Get it together," Logan ordered. "We're going to have company soon."
"Who are you?" Bolin asked.
"Someone you don't want to know," Logan answered. "But now we got to move."
Together Logan and Bolin walked out of the room into the hallway, trying to find the way out now. Neither of them said a word while the walked, as Logan didn't want to talk and Bolin had nothing to say. As they walked down one hallway Logan caught a familiar scent, and he held up one hand to silently tell Bolin to stop.
Sudden and rapid crossbow bolts were fired from an adjacent hallway, and only Deadpool's scent tipped off Logan in time to get himself and Bolin out of the way. Then a nearby wall broke down as Omega Red' metal tendrils burst through it, allowing him to walk through a new hole and ensnare Logan's chest with his tendrils.
"Please, struggle," Omega Red insisted, holding Logan in the air with his tendrils. "It will make your death so much sweeter."
"Stop!" Bolin yelled, about to earthbend the floor. But before he could attack he found Deadpool up close and pointing a repeating crossbow at Bolin's head.
"Start!" Deadpool yelled, adding a little laugh. "As in, start praying to your maker."
Omega Red used his tendrils to slam Logan into a wall.
"Twang!" Deadpool yelled. "No just kidding."
Logan got slammed into the wall again, but noticed that Bolin was still Bolin.
"Click-Click," Deadpool taunted.
Logan kicked off the wall that he had just been slammed into, getting enough force to overcome Omega Red's tendrils. He used that force to kick Omega Red's head, which forced the tendrils to let go. And then Logan hurried over to Bolin, extending his claws and slashing Deadpool's crossbow. One slash cut the crossbow into several pieces, and made Deadpool back away in shock.
"Whoa!" Deadpool yelled, holding up half a crossbow. "So glad that was the backup."
An elbow to the face shut up Deadpool and knocked him down, and then Logan started running down the hallway with Bolin. While they ran Logan noticed that Bolin was still normal. "What's the matter with you?" Logan demanded. "Do your thing! We need your big green friend right now!"
"Something's wrong!" Bolin yelled. "They did something to me, something to keep me calm."
"What's that got to do with anything?" Logan questioned.
"I change when I get angry," Bolin answered. "And that's not happening."
Without warning Logan stabbed Bolin in the gut, knowing that extreme pain tended to purge calm inducing drugs. "Maybe that will help speed things up," Logan said, ignoring Bolin's painful screams.
At that moment Deathstrike and Sabretooth arrived, joining their comrades Omega Red and Deadpool. "Logan!" Deathstrike yelled, getting his attention.
"End of the line runt," Sabretooth said. "Got any last words?"
"Not today," Logan answered. Instead he charged at all four of them.
Sabretooth readied his clawed fingers, Deathstrike held up her clawed hands, Omega Red extended his metal tendrils, and Deadpool drew a pair of short swords. "Let's dance," Deadpool said, and all four of them charged at Logan.
Logan reached Sabretooth first, both slashing with their claws and swinging a few kicks. Logan landed a kick to Sabretooth's stomach and an elbow strike to the jaw, and then another kick tossed Sabretooth away. He went after Deathstrike next, who nimbly dodged Logan's claws. After a few missed attacks Logan heard another foe about to attack, coming from above.
"Banzai!"
Deadpool had jumped above Logan and was coming down swords first. He saw Logan slash with his right-hand claws, about to hit Deadpool's right arm. Deadpool twisted in midair to avoid the claws, but the effort was in vain as Logan slashed with his left-hand claws. The claws sliced through Deadpool's right arm just below the shoulder, detaching the limb along with two slices of arm rolling on the floor.
"AH!" Deadpool screamed, landing on his knees and seeing his limb a few feet away. "Son of a… Not Again!"
His comrade's misfortune didn't stop Omega Red from exploiting an opportunity, getting his tendrils around Logan's limbs and grabbing him. Omega Red lifted Logan into the air and tightened his grip, slowing squeezing Logan. Sabretooth and Deathstrike watched their comrade work, while Deadpool tried to put his limb back together. Once Deadpool had his arm back in the correct alignment his healing factor reattached the limb, leaving Deadpool with only numb sensation in his reattached arm.
Meanwhile the sheer pain Bolin was suffering overwhelmed the drugs he had been subjected to, allowing anger and rage to finally take hold. Bolin's body grew larger and turned green, becoming the Hulk once again. As the Hulk the stab wounds in his gut healed, but the pain the wounds had caused still made Hulk angry.
"Hulk Smash Claw People!"
The Hulk charged at his enemies, pulling back a large fist to punch the first one he could reach. Deathstrike and Deadpool jumped out of the way, while Omega Red let go of Logan so that he could get to cover. That left Sabretooth in Hulk's sights, and he froze in shock for a split second. That was long enough for Hulk to swing his fist up into Sabretooth's chest, launching him up and through the ceiling. Force from the blow sent Sabretooth through several floors, and then through the complex's roof and flying across the horizon and landing in Earth Kingdom wilderness.
Deadpool drew another repeating crossbow and opened fire on the Hulk, shooting as many bolts as he could into Hulk's green hide. At the same time Omega Red extended one of his tendrils, wrapping it around Hulk's wrist. Omega Red pulled on his tendril to yank the Hulk down, but Hulk yanked back harder. Hulk yanked on Omega Red to bring him in closer, and then punched him in the chest. The blow sent Omega Red flying across the hallway and slamming into Deathstrike, and they both tumbled to the end of the hallway and into a larger chamber.
"Little Man…" Hulk muttered, noticing that Logan was nearby. Hulk grabbed the wall and ripped out a chunk of it, then threw it at Logan.
Logan rolled out of the way, and he did not retaliate. "Hey, I'm on your side you flaming idiot."
At first Hulk took slow steps towards Logan, remembering their last encounter. When Logan didn't attack right away Hulk charged at him, and Logan ran down the hallway to avoid Hulk's rampage. Neither of them noticed Deadpool putting away his crossbow and chasing after the Hulk, not wanting to be left out of the fight.
"Hey wait for me!" Deadpool yelled. He made a running jump and landed on top of the Hulk, and then took out a pair of grenades. "Double Time Lunch Time," Deadpool announced, pulling a pair of pins with his fingers and then shoving the grenades into Hulk's mouth. Before detonation Deadpool jumped off Hulk and started running beside Logan. "Logan, I think we lost him!"
The two grenades exploded inside Hulk's mouth, and from it a shockwave erupted and hit Logan and Deadpool. Both of them were flung to the end of the hallway, just before the larger chamber beyond. A cloud of smoke shrouded the area that the grenades had exploded at, hiding the results of Deadpool's attack.
"He's still alive isn't he?" Deadpool asked, looking at the smoke. "Nothing ever dies in a smoke cloud."
"Bub, that only made him angrier," Logan said.
The smoke cloud dispersed, gradually revealing the Hulk standing there. "Talking Man Hurt Hulk. Hulk Rip Off Talking Man's Head!"
"My head?" Deadpool muttered. "Is that really the best threat he can come up with?"
"He's all yours," Logan said. He grabbed Deadpool by the back of his outfit and threw him at the Hulk, where a green fist punched Deadpool and sent him flying back the way he came. Deadpool skidded along the floor into the larger chamber, out cold from the blow.
Logan retreated out of the hallway and into the larger chamber, where Deathstrike and Omega Red were recovering. Omega Red ambushed Logan by tackling him, getting Logan onto his back and then punching his face over and over. Meanwhile Deathstrike attacked Hulk, slashing with her claws while avoiding Hulk's fists. Deathstrike slashed cuts into Hulk's chest and back, cutting deep enough to bleed.
"Ugly Girl Scratch Hulk!" He swung his fists some more, missing Deathstrike each time. Then Hulk slammed both fists into the floor, earthbending the floor underneath Deathstrike. That bending made slabs of rock rise from the floor, catching Deathstrike and slamming her against the ceiling.
Nearby Omega Red was still punching Logan, not caring that all of his comrades had been dealt with by the Hulk. But while Omega Red was busy Hulk got behind him, grabbing Omega Red by the head and lifting him off Logan. Then Hulk slammed Omega Red against a wall and threw him into the floor, skidding away several feet. For good measure Hulk jumped on top of Omega Red, and then leaped off with enough force to crater the floor.
When Hulk landed he made another crater, shaking the entire complex. Hulk started punching the floor again and again, earthbending huge shockwaves that rattled the very foundations below. All around him the complex's buildings and structures began to tear themselves apart, raining debris from the ceiling all around the Hulk.
Logan didn't bother to stop Hulk from destroying the complex, instead he encouraged Hulk to destroy it. "Go for it big guy, tear this whole spirit forsaken place down to the ground!"
That got Hulk's attention, even as everything was collapsing around them. Hulk ripped a large slab of stone out of the floor and swung it like a bat, hitting Logan at a slight upward angle. That impact sent Logan flying into the air and through the ceiling, and through several more floors beyond it. And Logan kept on going through the entire complex, bursting outside and soaring across the sky. He came back down outside the complex's perimeter, landing in Earth Kingdom wilderness not far from where Sabretooth was lying unconscious.
When Logan recovered he got up and saw the outside of the complex, taking in the view of dozens of industrial buildings. That view didn't last long, as the entire complex collapsed. A giant cloud of smoke rose in the collapse, momentarily hiding the end result. And when that smoke cloud started to disperse Logan heard a distinctive yell, and he saw the Hulk leaping away from the wreckage and in his direction. The Hulk landed only a few feet away from Logan, ignoring the destruction behind him.
"Alright bub, where were we?" Logan asked.
A few hours later some rubble in the destroyed complex started to be pushed aside, a result of someone digging himself out. Once the way was clear Deadpool emerged, the first one to make it out alive. He had no idea where his comrades ended up, and cared even less. Only one thing was on his mind as he surveyed the area, something that had been bugging him all day.
"Oh now I get it," Deadpool said, snapping his fingers in realization. "This is all a rehash of Hulk Versus…"
WHAM!
The Hulk landed on top of Deadpool and leaped away again, completely unaware of him and continuing on his way.
"Ow…"