Marvel: The Enlightened One#99+100: The Demon Hulk, Returned from Hell, A Saint Who Can’t Fly is No Saint

ROOOOAR!

The thunderous stampede of over twenty massive rhino mounts began, and the very earth began to tremble beneath their charge.

"Death to the invader!"

Leading the charge, her neck adorned with a golden collar, was Okoye, her Vibranium spear held high as she roared out the war cry.

"WAKANDA FOREVER!"

Behind her, the warriors of the Border Tribe—renowned as the strongest in all of Wakanda—echoed the cry. Clad in their traditional blue, they surged forward like a tidal wave, an avalanche of righteous fury aimed directly at Hawk.

Hawk's face showed nothing but cold indifference as he watched the overwhelming might of the Wakandan army closing in on him, intent on complete annihilation.

The next second, he moved.

There were no complex techniques, no elaborate stances.

He didn’t even have his Armor yet. Even if he wanted to use the Phoenix’s Winged Ascent, he couldn’t.

But...

That was about to change.

Hawk’s move was the same as before. He took a single step back with his right foot, and the ground beneath it fractured and collapsed.

The next second, his right arm became a blur, a visual distortion caused by pure, unadulterated speed as it broke the sound barrier.

To everyone else, it looked as if he had thrown only a single punch at the charging Wakandan army—

The Lightning Sonic Fist.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

As his fist shot forward, the very air in its path was compressed and torn apart. A visible, funnel-shaped vapor cone erupted from his knuckles—the crack of a sonic boom echoing across the plains.

In that instant, a storm of phantom fists materialized, a thousand punches delivered in a single heartbeat.

CRACK!

Okoye and her rhino, at the very front of the charge, took the full force of the blast. Her face instantly caved in, and with a wet pop, her head exploded, turning her into a headless corpse in the blink of an eye.

Her rhino met the same fate.

A fist-sized hole was punched clean through its massive head. Through that hole, the fate of the soldiers behind it was made brutally clear.

In a word: carnage.

In a sentence: it was a scene of utter, indescribable horror.

When the afterimages faded and the dust settled, Hawk lowered his fist and looked ahead. The result was the same as before.

It didn’t matter if it was the Merchant Tribe or the Border Tribe. Before his Sonic Fist, their fate was the same.

As far as the eye could see, the ground was littered with shattered limbs. In a single instant, the gushing blood had begun to form a small stream, flowing downhill.

If the Lightning Sonic Fist is this devastating...

What would the Phoenix’s Winged Ascent be like??

The effect would be apocalyptic.

Hawk thought to himself, a thrill running through him.

He had to admit, this was the first time he had fought with such complete abandon.

It was the truth.

Even at Quantico, he had been holding back.

But this time, he was fighting with pure joy, without a single extraneous thought in his mind. There was only one thing.

Just get it done!

The next second, Hawk’s gaze swept past the fallen defenders of Wakanda's first line of defense and settled on the shimmering golden dome that concealed the true city from the outside world.

This was their final barrier. Beyond it lay the real Wakanda.

Hawk moved. As his foot lifted, it narrowly missed the stream of blood that had just reached him. He vanished.

The stream of blood, pulled by gravity, flowed faster and faster, until it merged with the blood of the Merchant Tribe.

In the distance, the body of Bruce Banner, lying in the trench, was now completely surrounded by it.

Suddenly, a wisp of pure, absolute darkness appeared in the blood. In the blink of an eye, the darkness had consumed the crimson pool, turning it a sickening black.

And as the black blood soaked into Bruce Banner's skin, the heart within his chest, now turning as black as the blood itself, gave a single, monstrous beat.

Thump.

...

BOOOOOM!

Hawk reappeared in front of the golden energy shield. Without hesitation, he threw a punch at the final obstacle standing between him and the Vibranium.

THWACK!

A golden ripple spread out from the point of impact, but the shield held, quickly returning to its calm, steady state.

Hawk raised an eyebrow.

“Lightning Sonic Fist!”

DUANG, DUANG, DUANG...

Ripple after ripple appeared on the golden shield, spreading out like waves before vanishing into stillness.

"A shield made of pure Vibranium energy??"

Hawk drew in a sharp breath as he felt the full force of his attacks being absorbed and neutralized without a trace.

They were rich.

Unbelievably, obscenely rich.

Using Vibranium for their infantry weapons was one thing. But to use it to power a massive energy shield like this?

They really have developed the use of Vibranium to its absolute limit.

Hawk paused, his eyes studying the shield, a calculating glint within them.

...

Inside Wakanda, in the royal command center.

King T'Chaka, already clad in his Black Panther suit, stood watching the holographic projection of Hawk.

“Have you identified him?”

“I have.”

The one who answered was his daughter, Shuri.

A series of holographic projections flashed before her, displaying all of Hawk’s known data. Classified S.H.I.E.L.D files from the Quantico incident appeared one after another, projected into the air.

One punch shatters an armored car.

One punch obliterates a tank.

One punch levels a building.

And he crushes Thaddeus Ross's skull with his boot...

The information was detailed.

And it was completely insane.

“He’s only eighteen. How does he have this kind of power? And how does he know about us?”

“His energy signature... is unknown.”

Princess Shuri looked at the data, which didn’t match any known energy source in her database, and shook her head.

She was a technological genius, but it was clear that Hawk’s power was beyond the realm of science.

But—

PING! PING!

“Vibranium energy shield energy consumption at ten percent. Current energy level at ninety percent.”

Princess Shuri’s eyes lit up. She turned to her father. “His energy signature may be unknown, but at this level, he can't breach our defenses.”

King T’Chaka said nothing, his eyes still fixed on the projection of Hawk.

Suddenly, the alarms blared again.

Princess Shuri froze, then quickly looked back at her console.

Hiss.

“Another energy signature detected at the Merchant Tribe’s location.”

“It’s strong.”

“And it’s growing.”

“I’ve got a match.”

“This...”

“The Hulk?”

Princess Shuri stared at the result from the database.

“No, wait.”

“It’s not the Hulk. But the energy signature is very similar.”

"Bring up the projection from the Merchant Tribe's location."

"On it."

Shuri quickly pulled up the real-time satellite feed.

The scene was one of utter carnage.

A look of pain and anger flashed across her face, but then her eyes locked onto a massive, pitch-black figure that had just dropped from the sky.

Is that...

A black Hulk?

...

ROOOOOOOAR!

A scream that could tear the soul apart ripped through the air, spreading in all directions, as if announcing its return to the world.

“HULK!”

“...”

Outside the shield, Hawk's nascent Sixth Sense screamed a warning. Without a moment's hesitation, he vanished.

The moment he was gone...

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

The Demon Hulk crashed down like a meteor where Hawk had just been standing.

The earth itself seemed to groan in agony as the mountain of black flesh slammed into it.

A spiderweb of cracks shot out for dozens of meters.

The savanna was torn apart, sending a shower of dirt and rock into the air.

The Demon Hulk rose to its full, terrifying height, muscles bulging like mountain ridges. Each breath created miniature whirlwinds, raw destructive power rippling visibly beneath its obsidian skin. Its eyes blazed like coals from the depths of Hell.

“Well, now.”

“A black Hulk. No, a Demon Hulk.”

“He’s actually alive?”

“How?”

Hawk reappeared a short distance away, a look of genuine shock on his face.

He had had his senses fully open, and yet, he hadn’t detected any movement, any sound, that would indicate Bruce Banner’s transformation.

If his Sixth Sense hadn’t warned him at the last possible second, he would have been crushed.

And that meant only one thing.

Compared to the Hulk he had killed before, this Demon Hulk, this creature that had clawed its way back from Hell, was on a completely different level.

At the same time, the Demon Hulk’s eyes, burning with hellfire, locked onto Hawk.

Flashes of memory—of being dragged into the water, of being drowned—surged through its mind.

The memories only fueled its rage.

ROOOOOOOARRRRRRRRRRRRRR!

The Demon Hulk, consumed by fury, wasted no time on words.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

Its massive foot stomped the ground, which crumbled like a dry cracker. Its mountainous black body shot forward like an out-of-control siege ram, an unstoppable force of pure destruction, rocketing directly at Hawk.

Hawk's eyes narrowed to slits.

But he did not retreat.

<><><><><><><><>

A Saint does not retreat.

Neither does Hawk.

As the Demon Hulk charged, the air itself seemed to part before its brutish force, letting out a deafening roar.

One hundred meters. Closed in an instant.

“HUUUULK!!!”

The Demon Hulk roared, swinging a fist the size of a small car, not at Hawk—but at the very ground he stood on.

In that last second, Hawk’s form blurred and vanished.

The Hulk’s fist came down.

BOOOOOOM—

It was as if a bomb had detonated. A ring of pure destruction erupted from the point of impact, a tidal wave of earth, shattered rock, and uprooted grass that tore across the battlefield.

The shockwave ripped every tree and plant within a hundred-meter radius out by the roots, tossing them into the air.

The Vibranium energy shield rippled, one wave after another.

And in that same instant, Hawk reappeared at the side of the Hulk’s massive head.

Lightning Sonic Fist!

The muscles in Hawk’s right arm tensed, his body coiling like a drawn bow. Without warning, his arm became a blur of pure light, moving beyond the limits of visual capture as a hailstorm of punches rained down on the Hulk’s enormous body.

BAM, BAM, BAM, BAM!

The earth trembled.

The sky thundered.

And the Hulk was struck by lightning.

The storm of fists slammed into the Hulk’s mountainous black form, erupting in a shower of dazzling energy.

“HULK!”

“MAD!”

The Hulk roared in agony, its eyes turning crimson. It braced against the overwhelming barrage of the Lightning Sonic Fist and swung its house-sized fist again, a blow fueled by pure, landscape-shattering rage.

Hawk met the attack with his own right fist.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

The moment their fists met, a single, deafening explosion was born.

The next second, Hawk was sent flying backward. The shirt on his upper body disintegrated, revealing his powerful physique as he slammed into the Vibranium energy shield.

The shield absorbed the kinetic energy from his body, the force dissipating in a series of rapid ripples that spread out in all directions.

...

“Warning! Warning!”

“Energy level at eighty percent.”

“Energy level at seventy percent.”

“Sixty-fi—”

“Divert auxiliary power! Now!”

In the Wakandan royal command center, Princess Shuri watched the shield’s power plummeting and began snapping out orders.

King T’Chaka stared at the holographic display, his voice filled with shock. “What the hell is that monster?”

“The Hulk, but not the Hulk. Its energy signature has traces of the Hulk’s, but it’s also mixed with something else—something demonic.”

Shuri thought her father was asking about the Hulk.

“...” But T’Chaka’s gaze was fixed on the other figure, on the man who had just taken a direct hit from that creature and was still alive.

He couldn’t believe it.

Based on the power drain on the shield, he knew exactly how strong that last punch had been.

T’Chaka knew, with absolute certainty, that he would not have survived it.

But Hawk?

He was fine.

Not only was he fine, but the moment he’d hit the shield, he had pushed off, instantly reappearing beneath the Hulk’s massive head.

A storm of fists slammed into the Demon Hulk’s jaw.

In that instant, the Demon Hulk’s head snapped back, and its colossal feet were lifted from the ground, its entire mountain-like frame launched into the air.

CRASH!

The Demon Hulk’s back slammed into the earth, and the ground itself seemed to scream, a massive crater forming in a vortex of shattered rock and dust.

The next second, two hellish flames ignited within the dust cloud. The Demon Hulk, now radiating an even more savage and brutish aura, smashed the ground of the crater and launched itself at Hawk once more.

Hawk looked up, his eyes narrowing.

CRACK!!!

“HULK!”

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

The angrier the Demon Hulk got, the more ferocious it became.

And the more ferocious it became, the harder Hawk fought.

His Cosmo burned with a furious intensity.

WHOOSH!

Hawk appeared at the Demon Hulk’s right side. As he drew back his fist, the universe within him exploded.

Lightning Sonic Fist—

BOOM, BOOM, BOOM, BOOM!

The barrage of fists hammered into the Demon Hulk's massive frame once again. Golden lightning ripped through its dark hide, carving deep, bloody gashes as it was launched backward through the air.

Hawk got a brief respite. He hovered five meters above the ground, his breathing slightly heavy.

Yes.

Hovering.

The path of the Saint was the path of battle. A Saint grows in battle, learns in battle, and ascends in battle.

And in this battle, Hawk had learned.

He had touched the threshold of the Sixth Sense... and in doing so, he had unlocked the art of flight.

But there was one problem.

He was growing stronger in this fight, but so was the Demon Hulk.

...

As the dust settled, Hawk saw it.

The Demon Hulk knelt in a crater that looked like a meteor impact site. Its massive arms were planted against the ground for support, black skin covered in countless fist-sized golden burns, many of which had torn open into bleeding gashes.

But a new, more powerful, more primal and destructive energy was gathering within it.

The next second, the Demon Hulk’s body began to expand. Not only were its wounds healing at a visible rate, but its massive frame grew even larger.

“Again??”

“Is this ever going to end??”

Hawk watched as the Demon Hulk healed and powered up in the span of a single breath, and he was completely speechless.

He was done playing this game.

If the Demon Hulk could just keep getting stronger every time it got angry, there was no way he could win.

And more importantly, he wasn’t here to fight the Demon Hulk. He was here on business.

Wait a minute.

The Vibranium energy shield.

Hawk’s mind raced. An idea struck him, and he glanced at the golden dome protecting the true Wakanda.

At the same time, the newly empowered Demon Hulk let out a roar and charged, each footstep a miniature earthquake.

Hawk snapped back to reality. He saw the mountain of black flesh charging toward him, and his eyes lit up with interest. He rocketed backward, a sonic boom exploding in his wake, and materialized directly in front of the golden energy barrier.

...

In the Wakandan command center, King T’Chaka saw this and his heart skipped a beat. He had a very bad feeling.

The next second, his feeling became a reality.

Hawk didn’t meet the Hulk’s charge head-on. At the last possible moment, he vanished.

The Demon Hulk’s fist, carrying an unimaginable, furious power, slammed into the Wakandan energy shield.

In that moment, the entire shield seemed to come alive.

The alarms in the command center shrieked.

“Energy level at sixty percent!”

“SHIT!”

“He’s trying to use the Hulk to break our shield!” Shuri was stunned for a second, then she understood.

Just then, King T’Chaka spoke. “Open a breach. Let them in.”

“Yes, sir... what?”

Shuri was about to comply, then she processed the order. She turned and stared at her father in disbelief.

King T’Chaka said, “Wakanda cannot be exposed. If the energy shield is broken, we will be revealed to the world. Let them in.”

Shuri’s mind raced. She turned back to her console and, as her hands flew across the holographic interface, she snapped out an order.

“Prepare to divert energy. Open sector C8-C1.”

“Energy diverted.”

“Open!”

“VMMMM!”

With the input of the command, a massive hole opened in the golden energy shield.

...

Hawk, who had just tricked the Demon Hulk into hitting the shield again, spotted the opening. He was surprised for a split second, then realized this was Wakanda's only option. Without hesitation, he shot toward the gap.

The Demon Hulk followed close behind.

The moment they were both inside, the breach in the shield snapped shut.

In that instant, their energy signatures vanished from every satellite in orbit.

“Wow.”

As he passed through the breach, Hawk looked at the scene before him—the cliffs, the waterfalls, and the futuristic city in the distance—and let out a gasp of genuine wonder.

But he had no time to admire the view. The Demon Hulk was already on him.

Hawk looked at the thousand-foot drop before him, then at the waterfall crashing into the river below. His figure blurred, and he reappeared behind the Demon Hulk.

The Demon Hulk skidded to a halt at the very edge of the cliff.

“Hey.”

“ROAR??”

The Demon Hulk instinctively turned.

He saw Hawk pull back his fist with a small smile, then drive it not toward him, but into the ground beneath their feet.

With a loud crack, the cliff edge began to fracture, the cracks spreading out in all directions.

The Demon Hulk, still standing at the edge of the abyss, froze as understanding dawned. But it was already too late.

CRACK!

The cliff edge crumbled. A massive slab of rock broke away from the cliff face, and the Hulk, its enormous frame thrown off balance, tumbled over the edge and plummeted toward the river thousands of feet below.

“ROOOOAR!”

“HUUUUUUUUULK!!!”

“...”