A pale blue light filled Arthur's entire vision, making the experiment pod before him appear transparent as the space around it twisted.
"It's an energy overload!" Dr. Connors shouted at Arthur, "Get out of here fast, it's going to explode!"
Banner's breathing quickened as he grated his teeth and said, "Everything was functioning normally. Why did this suddenly happen?"
"If it explodes…"
Arthur's voice suddenly cut in, "What will happen?"
His voice was eerily calm, showing no sign of panic despite the sudden crisis.
Banner, reaching his limit, still gritted his teeth and said, "The most likely outcome is that our entire lab, along with everything within a few dozen miles, will be blown to smithereens!"
Hearing this, Dr. Connors sprinted toward the energy device.
After a flurry of action, he shut the power off completely. "I turned it off!"
"But it doesn't seem to have helped."
Arthur exhaled slightly as the blue light in front of him continued to flicker, becoming more intense.
It seemed to be approaching a critical point. Glancing back at Dr. Connors and Banner, Arthur wondered if retreating now would allow them to escape unharmed.
It was then that Arthur realized he didn't feel much of an inner struggle.
With a hint of resignation, he said, "I knew that once I got involved with this thing…"
Before he could finish his sentence, he was already walking towards the experiment pod.
"Oh my God…"
Dr. Connors was stunned as he watched Arthur's actions. "I always thought he was a supervillain."
"Roar…"
The response to Dr. Connors was no longer Banner's voice, but the roar of the Hulk!
Dr. Connors' face changed drastically, suddenly realizing that he might be the most vulnerable in this situation.
With the Hulk transforming beside him and the Tesseract's energy running wild in front of him, perhaps as the Lizard he might have had some chance of survival, but as himself…
By this time, Arthur had already revealed his steely form, grasping the cable with a firm hand.
The Tesseract's energy had permeated the entire circuit. As soon as Arthur touched it, the blue light surged wildly around his body, like flashing lightning bolts or fiery snakes.
"Aaaaaaahhhhhh…"
With a roar, Arthur ripped the cable.
The surrounding energy abruptly shifted, forming a blue energy force field out of the chaos.
At the same time, the Hulk leaped into the air with a furious roar and slammed into the force field with a tremendous crash, but was unable to break through.
Sliding to the ground, the Hulk got back up and attacked the force field!
Arthur looked at the Hulk, feeling the flow of energy around him, the sensation of it surging over his body. Even though he hadn't been penetrated by the energy, the sense of danger hadn't diminished at all.
He looked at the Hulk and suddenly smiled before speaking, "Actually, I've always wanted to find a chance to have a real and proper talk with you… Hulk."
Hulk's attacks stopped. He looked at Arthur with a strange expression – part panic, part bewilderment, and mostly confusion.
"Unfortunately… it seems we won't get that chance."
Arthur sighed slightly and looked up as his expression subtly changed.
A blue beam shot straight up into the sky, and it seemed as if the cosmic stars were within reach.
"Could it be…"
Arthur's pupils narrowed as he suddenly saw Banner leap up and land right next to the power device.
With a roar at Dr. Connors, the force of which was so strong that it nearly blew his glasses off. Then Hulk grabbed the Tesseract, and the energy from the Magic Cube instantly coursed through his fingers.
It seemed to make Hulk feel like he was holding something scalding hot. After quickly switching the Magic Cube between his hands a few times, he suddenly threw it away with great force!
After that, the Hulk looked eagerly in Arthur's direction.
But all he saw was a blue light gradually fading away. The spot where Arthur had been standing, along with the experiment pod beside him… both had vanished without a trace.
The expectation in Hulk's eyes slowly faded like a dying flame, and his massive body slowly returned to its original form.
Banner's eyes were hollow as he looked around the ruined lab.
The intense electricity and force field had destroyed and paralyzed all the electronic equipment around them.
Banner's expression was blank: "It was my fault that he…"
…
…
The world was spinning!
If Arthur had to describe how he felt at that moment, it was as if he'd been stuffed into a washing machine on the highest spin cycle, spinning at full speed!
He kept colliding with something unknown, and if it weren't for his steely form, he thought he would have been smashed to bits.
In the end, Arthur had no choice but to grab the object and store it in the Disassembler space.
Opening his eyes, he found himself unable to see anything. Arthur even thought that if this spinning continued, it would only be a matter of time before his brain oozed out of his nose.
But just as that thought crossed his mind, the wild spinning came to an abrupt halt.
The sensation of falling through the air took over, and with a heavy thud, he felt as if he'd landed on something incredibly solid.
He opened his eyes, but the world was still spinning at a dizzying pace, so he quickly closed them again.
His hands were shaking so much that he couldn't even draw the Eye of Horus.
Reaching out to feel the ground, he tried to stand, but with a thud, he collapsed again.
He heard the sound of orderly footsteps approaching, along with the hissing sound of some sort of device. Then a loud voice boomed, "Whoever you are, you're under arrest. Stand up and don't move!"
Arthur wanted to stand, but he just couldn't manage it.
He tried to speak, but his tongue was twisted, and he couldn't get a word out.
"If you won't stand up, then stay down."
After that, Arthur felt two people come over, twist his arms behind his back, and place something around his wrists.
He struggled to open his eyes, and the world that had been spinning wildly began to calm down. But the people still appeared double.
Still, Arthur noticed that this place… seemed a bit ominous!
He was surrounded by a group of men dressed in black, wielding some very intimidating-looking weapons.
In the outer ring, a group of bizarre figures in yellow uniforms stood watching from a distance.
Hovering in the air were several flying devices, their muzzles extended and spewing flames. Without exception, every weapon was pointed directly at Arthur.
"Where… the hell is this?"
Arthur's vision blurred, and as dizziness overcame him, two men in black grabbed his arms and dragged him away…
*Emmmmmmm, since some readers keep thinking this is a crossover to another world, I need to clarify. This is still the Marvel Universe and will remain so. The book will only cover Marvel, and there will be no other worlds involved.