Chapter 103: Surprise (VI)

I am not no.1 in the ranking for once, let’s go.

The goal for bonus Chapter is still 2.5k though.

Huhu. Good luck.

....

Natasha’s left cheek pressed flat on John’s chest, and her vision was smothered in plain darkness, and all she could hear was his rising heartbeat.

And then, the wall to their right turned into a rain of broken bricks and plaster as a truck slammed right into John’s shoulder.

Since his Observation Haki wasn’t available, he only noticed the truck barreling towards them at the last moment.

It was right before it struck the wall that his natural sense picked up the danger.

In that moment, John didn’t have much freedom or time. He might’ve been able to squirm out of the way if it was only him, but he wasn’t exactly alone.

As the broken bricks peppered his body, his Haki covered him. At least his back was covered in full before the truck’s radiator crunched against it.

The metal bent around him as he did his best not to let the kinetic energy, or anything else, transfer onto Natasha, who was still unaware of the situation.

The woman herself had reacted to the sound of the crash a moment later and had braced herself to the best she could in her position and capacity.

By the time she opened her eyes, the booth they were sitting in was reduced to scrap, and so was most of the place. She could hear the owner of the place, the old grandma, screaming in the kitchen as the alarms blared around them.

In the middle of the broken tables, shattered plates and glass, rising dust, John stood pretty much unchanged. Keeping her firmly above the ground. Well, aside from his ripped shirt and slightly frizzy hair.

Before speaking a word, he brought her outside as an uncomfortable sizzle came from the totalled truck, before setting her down.

Now back on her feet, Natasha looked around at the chaos. Screams. Fire. And a very loud roar in the distance accompanied by subtle tremors in the asphalt. But more than that, her entire mind was focused on the man standing behind her.

No, it would be better to say it was about this uncomfortable feeling emanating from his body that froze her in place.

It was so strong that people who had been running in their direction, likely escaping the cause of this fiasco, were turning around to get far away from John no matter the direction. Even if it meant running back the way they came from.

It was the very reason she had no capacity to make a joke or tease him about how gentle he was while carrying her out like a princess despite his unamused expression.

Well, it wouldn’t be right to say he had an unamused expression either.

’He looks excited...’ Natasha glanced at him as distant rumbling came to a halt and a dozen sirens wailed all around.

A massive incident had just taken place in Harlem right as they were having their little discussion.

On the other hand, John was absolutely confused. He could feel the presence of something beyond this block. A humanoid creature was making a beeline for him right now.

The only problem was that it was an 11-foot-tall wrecking ball tearing through the buildings and stomping everything in its path.

Considering the creature’s size, the buzzing helicopter above, the sirens circling, and the place he was in- Harlem.

It had to be Abomination.

Now, how could he be in the perfect place at the perfect time for this time bomb to go off?

"Did you know about this?" He turned to the only one who could’ve possibly planned this.

There was no way SHIELD wasn’t keeping an eye on Hulk and General Ross’s plotline from the shadows. So, they should’ve known the exact moment Bruce would go to meet Samuel.

Maybe they brought him along thinking he would be able to handle Bruce if he ever transformed into Hulk?

But Natasha only shook her head. And she wasn’t lying in the slightest.

If even she was unaware, then it all came down to luck. He was just at the wrong place at the wrong time.

’I was only joking when I called myself cursed, but it doesn’t even sound funny anymore.’ John wasn’t a huge Marvel nut, so he didn’t know the exact date of every big event.

He just knew the order in a very loose way.

The only thing he knew right now was that this wasn’t the time to think about these things. Abomination tore right through a building at the end of the street and almost crashed through another before stopping.

The towering mass of muscle twitched, not even bothering to look at the normal humans trembling below. His fish-like frill ears flapped as he turned to face John, locking eyes with him in an instant.

Now, why did this abomination rush over to him? Why was it looking at him with such a fury-filled gaze? And why was it scratching the street with its feet like it was a bull? It wasn’t like John was wearing red.

None of that mattered when Abomination roared. It was like a signal to the start of something. A signal to itself. The moment the roar ended, it stomped forward.

His thick legs punctured through cars and anything that had the misfortune to come before it. It was a single-minded charge only aimed at John.

"Get as far away as you can." John picked up Natasha and boosted her to the terrace of the nearest building.

The Black Widow didn’t need more words. She stuck the landing on top of the two-story gift shop and bolted in the opposite direction from them, jumping rooftop to rooftop while trying to get hold of her nearest colleague on the phone for information.

Thankfully, if he could refer to it as that, Abomination didn’t even glance at Natasha and only picked up the pace.

Should he meet the charge head-on or should he treat this thing like a bull? No, why was he even thinking of fighting it?

The moment Abomination dove forward, trying to crush John on the pavement, he jumped over the obvious lunge. But the giant thing just ploughed through the asphalt and a kebab shop before rolling back to his feet, running after John again.

’It doesn’t look like it’ll leave me alone even if I try to lose it.’ The reason for that seemed to be the overflowing cursed energy leaking out of him.

He wasn’t sure why Abomination could sense it, but if he wanted to lose this thing, he needed to bring the cursed energy back under control. And with this thing on his tail, it would be close to impossible.

John needed to stay still and concentrate all of his focus on this task for it to happen, plus he needed time. Something like that was not the best option currently.

Slipping under a wild left, John stepped back and sat down on the bonnet of an abandoned Stingray, its engine still running. He thought about the sharp wind that brushed his face just now.

Abomination was definitely strong. His hits were sure to pack a punch, and his raw stats weren’t anything to scoff at.

So, wasn’t this the perfect punching bag to train Water Stream Smashing Rock Fist?

As the old sages said, look at the silver lining in everything. And he had found one in this situation.

’Am I just looking for a reason to fight at this point?’ John looked up lazily as Abomination raised both his arms to smash him into paste.

He dug into his pocket for a coin and tossed it behind him. Before the jagged, spiny forearms turned the Stingray into rubble, John clapped.

The car exploded into a ball of flames. Abomination roared as he stomped the charred thing, but he soon stopped. He turned around and saw John standing there with a smirk.

Observing the look of utter confusion, John only had one thing to say.

"Ok, I’ll play with you for a bit."

And as if overjoyed to hear that, Abomination came in swinging with a left.

John didn’t dodge this time. He got in position quickly. His hands raised to shoulder level as he firmly planted his feet. The moment the fist, big enough to cover his chest, came close enough, he moved to meet it.

The punch had too much force behind it for him to just deflect it outright at his current level. So, he chose to redirect it.

John’s right hand hooked the fist and dragged it inwards towards himself to push for an overshoot. Even with him using all his strength, the fist narrowly missed his face and struck the ground.

Asphalt beneath the two cracked as Abomination roared and swung again. For the first time, John was on the back foot in a pure physical sense.

Still, the physical advantage was being overcome by pure technique and Observation Haki. Well, at least to an extent. John was still learning Water Stream rock-smashing fist, the main thing he put all his focus on. And now he was facing someone like the Abomination while relying on it solely.

It was like throwing a person who had just learned to swim with a tube into the ocean to fend against the raging currents.

It was truly reckless behaviour. It was truly an unnecessary risk. Something that someone who could only be described as incredibly cocky or an adrenaline junkie would do.

As another decimating punch went past his nose, John wasn’t sure which one of the two he was becoming at this point.

The one thing that he knew, lunging to punch Abomination’s defenceless face, was that this was true Hanma behaviour. And there was no need to think further than that.

But that was the least of his worries. After a few minutes of the cat-and-mouse game, as he landed a few good hits, he understood one thing.

Abomination was unable to land a direct attack on him.

And John was unable to cause any substantial damage to the former with his attacks.

’This isn’t ideal.’ John felt his brain itch as he backflipped over a leg sweep and landed on the roof of a burning car.

Training was the reason he stepped into the fight, but now that he had stepped into the ring, the only conclusion should be a victory. Stalemate wasn’t an option, at least that was what his body was screaming at him.

That was until something hit him.

No, it wasn’t an idea about how to win this fight or how to break the stalemate. It was a barrage of machine gun fire from the military chopper in the sky.

Already feeling the incoming line of fire with his Haki a beat earlier, John ran to dodge it.

However, because of that, he lost track of the actual dangerous element on the ground.

Goosebumps rose all over John’s body as he barely craned his neck. Right in front of him was a huge fist of the thing called the Abomination.

And the fist connected with his face with full force.