The spectral separation performed by the Ancient One had been an act of brutal, psychological clarity for Dr. Banner. With his soul briefly yanked from the core of his rage, he had faced the devastating, if accurate, diagnosis: the Hulk was not just a mutation, but a psychological fortress built from deep, childhood trauma.
Now, having been gently guided back into his sleeping body by the Ancient One's mystical touch, Bruce Banner awoke, his mind buzzing not with gamma-induced fury, but with the terrifying new knowledge of his own mind's fragility. He sat up, pushing the shattered remnants of the street off his limbs, the physical exhaustion of the battle hitting him at once.
The Ancient One, sensing the conversation had reached its crucial pivot point, prepared to disengage.
"I have done what I can, Su Yi," she said, her voice quiet but firm. "The path to integration is long, and the true battle lies within Dr. Banner's own psyche. My duties elsewhere demand my attention."
It was true. Su Yi appreciated the Sorcerer Supreme's patience. She had endured the disruption of her duties, the flippant tone of a genius billionaire, and the presence of two highly-strung teenagers, all to provide temporary containment and metaphysical therapy. He had effectively used her as a cosmic babysitter and ambulance driver before she finally ascended.
"Thank you, Ancient One. I truly appreciate the assistance, especially the rapid response," Su Yi replied, a rare moment of genuine respect coloring his tone.
As she began to gesture for the removal of the Mirror Dimension—an act that would instantly return the chaotic scene to the real world—Tony Stark voiced the immediate, pragmatic concern.
"Wait, wait, wait! Before the whole world snaps back into place," Tony said, hovering nervously between the retreating sorceress and the prone monster. "What about this guy?" He gestured dramatically with his repulsor hand toward the unconscious Abomination, who was starting to revert, though still retaining his colossal, grotesque scale. "We can't just leave him on Fifth Avenue for the NYPD to ticket. Ross is lurking outside like a vulture. We hand him over to him, and we'll have ten more gamma freaks by next week."
Su Yi nodded, his eyes fixed on the Abomination. Tony was right. General Ross was the single greatest threat to planetary stability at the moment, his ambition fueled by desperation. Yet, leaving Blonsky to S.H.I.E.L.D. wasn't a perfect solution either; they had their own murky history with weaponizing genetic anomalies.
Then, the bold, opportunistic idea struck Su Yi—an elegant solution to both the problem of containment and the problem of his own progression.
"Hold the collapse, Ancient One. Just a moment more," Su Yi requested, stepping quickly toward the fallen titan.
"What is he doing?" Peter whispered, clutching his web-shooters.
"I don't know, but he looks like he just saw an all-you-can-eat buffet," Gwen murmured back, fascinated.
Su Yi extended his hand, palm down, over the Abomination's massive, still-steaming chest. He didn't need to touch him; he just needed to sense the unique, volatile energy signature residing within.
Gamma energy. A dense, highly reactive, and uniquely potent biological power source.
A faint, predatory smile touched Su Yi's lips. It was crude, violent energy, but it was still energy, and his primary ability was the most effective cheat code in the universe.
"Devour," Su Yi whispered, activating his [Infinite Devour] ability.
Instantly, a silent, invisible vortex formed around his hand. A faint, sickeningly vibrant greenish-blue light began to stream out of the Abomination's massive form, flowing directly into Su Yi. It wasn't just energy; it was the very essence of the mutation, the core gamma contamination, being extracted as easily as drawing water from a hose.
Dr. Banner, who was struggling back to his feet, saw the transfer and shouted in alarm.
"Stop! You can't! That's pure gamma energy! It will—it will tear you apart! You'll turn into something worse than he is!"
Su Yi didn't even look away, focusing entirely on the surging power entering his system. "Can't what, Bruce? Turn into a glowing green behemoth? I think I'll take my chances."
He devoured the energy with focused intensity. The raw, violent power felt warm, almost sweet, as it integrated into his system. Su Yi could feel the bar on his internal progress meter—his Lv7 energy accumulation—slowly, almost imperceptibly, creeping forward. The energy was substantial, the result of Blonsky's extensive exposure and forced mutation. Su Yi estimated it was the equivalent of nearly a week's worth of intensive, unshielded solar absorption.
When the flow slowed to a trickle, indicating the Abomination was entirely depleted, Su Yi retracted his hand. Blonsky instantly deflated, shrinking down to a mere (though still heavily muscular) human size, his gray, scarred skin looking loose and deflated, the unique gamma glow gone entirely. He was still unconscious, but he was now merely a very strong man, not a world-breaking monster.
Bruce stared, his scientific mind reeling. "You… you're fine? There's no secondary mutation? No ill effects? You absorbed that much raw gamma?"
"Of course I'm fine," Su Yi said dismissively, rolling his wrist. "It's just energy. And honestly, it was a little disappointing. The quality was good, but the quantity was lacking."
Bruce's jaw dropped. He had ruined his life, become a fugitive, and nearly destroyed a city because of this quality but lacking energy source. This man was truly operating on a different plane of existence—a cosmic vacuum cleaner that devoured existential threats for breakfast.
Suddenly, amid his shock, an idea, a terrifyingly tempting escape route, solidified in Bruce's mind. The Ancient One had offered therapy and integration, a difficult path requiring him to wrestle with his past. Su Yi had offered a simple, complete removal.
If the gamma energy disappeared, the Hulk disappeared. The separate personality, the mental illness, the trauma repository—all of it would be inert. He could go home. He could stop running. He could see Betty Ross without fearing he might crush her in a moment of stress.
The choice, which had been agonizing moments before, became brutally simple. Heroism versus a normal life. Service versus sanity. Bruce made his decision.
"Wait!" Bruce called out, his voice hoarse, stopping Su Yi just as he was turning away.
Su Yi and the others paused, looking back at the desperate, spectral scientist.
Bruce visibly gathered his courage, his whole body trembling slightly. "I… I have a favor to ask of you, Su Yi."
"Name it," Su Yi replied.
"I want you to absorb the rest of the gamma energy in my body. I want you to remove it all. I want to be a normal man again."
Tony sighed dramatically in his suit. "Oh, come on, Bruce! You were just getting the hang of the 'Smash!' move! You're literally trading world-class power for obscurity! Are you sure about this?"
"I am absolutely sure," Bruce stated, his voice ringing with conviction. "Captain Steve is my hero, and I did want to use this power to help. But I am tired, gentlemen. Exhausted. Because of this power, I have hidden in jungles and shanties for years. I can't live a life, I can't be with the woman I love, because I am a danger. If the price of peace is being ordinary, I will pay it gladly."
Su Yi looked at Bruce Banner—the exhausted scientist, not the rampaging Hulk. The decision was personal and deeply rooted in exhaustion and love, not cowardice.
"The timeline is changed, Bruce. The world will adapt," Su Yi said, giving his assent. "You will lose all of your superhuman capability. You will be baseline human. But, if that is your wish, I will honor it."
Su Yi stepped closer, placing a hand lightly on Bruce's shoulder. The gamma energy within Bruce's system was far purer, a direct result of the original radiation exposure, not a blood transfusion. The devouring process began again, but this time, the light pouring from Bruce was a brilliant, intense emerald, far more vivid than the Abomination's bluish-green.
Bruce felt a strange, cold emptiness spread through his chest. It wasn't painful, but it felt like a vital part of his physical being was being gently suctioned away. The devouring continued for less than ten minutes, and the emerald light finally faded.
"It's done, Bruce. Every last bit of residual gamma energy has been absorbed," Su Yi confirmed.
A profound, soul-deep peace washed over Dr. Banner. He felt light, untethered, and fundamentally safe. He laughed—a deep, booming, uninhibited laugh that shook his shoulders. For years, every surge of emotion, every skipped heartbeat, had been a potential transformation, a trigger for disaster. Now, he could laugh, he could cry, he could get angry, and he would simply remain Bruce Banner.
"Thank you. I… I can't thank you enough," Bruce said, tears welling up in his eyes. "The Hulk is gone. I think I finally get to go home."
With the two gamma titans neutralized and the central problem solved, the time for cleanup arrived.
"Ancient One, we are ready," Su Yi announced.
With a rapid sweep of her hand, the Sorcerer Supreme dissolved the crystalline structure of the pocket reality. The world snapped back into place. Tony Stark, Bruce Banner (now just a normal man), the Spiders, and the unconscious, depowered Emil Blonsky were suddenly standing on the pristine, newly reappeared street, precisely where they had vanished.
"Tony, Peter, I need you to handle the logistics," Su Yi instructed. "Tony, your armor is damaged, but you are still Iron Man. Peter, you are Spider-Man. Coordinate with S.H.I.E.L.D. or the authorities. Make absolutely certain General Ross does not take Blonsky. Hand him over to S.H.I.E.L.D. or the Pentagon, but if Ross gets him, we'll be doing this again."
"Got it. Drop the monster on Fury's doorstep. My kind of afternoon," Tony grumbled, already lifting the limp form of Blonsky with magnetic grapples.
"What about the last loose end?" Su Yi asked, turning to Bruce. "Dr. Banner, the scientist who helped you—Mr. Blue. He might have been contaminated. We need to check his lab immediately."
Bruce, suddenly concerned for his colleague, immediately pointed the way. "Dr. Sterns! Yes, we must see him. He's a good man, he just wanted to help."
Su Yi nodded to Gwen. "Gwen, come with me. Bruce, lead the way."
They teleported away, leaving Tony and Peter to deal with the inevitable arrival of the military and S.H.I.E.L.D. cleanup crews.
Bruce, leading them through the quieter back alleys, quickly guided them to the makeshift laboratory where he and Dr. Sterns had worked.
The scene inside was chaotic. Equipment was overturned, and broken glass littered the floor. Samuel Sterns, a man with a visibly large, intellectual forehead, lay motionless beneath a collapsed shelving unit.
Bruce rushed to his side. "Samuel! Are you okay?"
"He's alive, Bruce," Su Yi confirmed, checking his pulse. "But look at his head."
Sterns had a nasty laceration on his forehead from where he hit the sharp edge of an equipment stand. More alarmingly, a spilled vial of gamma-infused blood—the very concentrated sample Bruce had been working with—had dripped directly onto the open wound. The blood had been absorbed through the broken skin, heading straight for the brain.
Su Yi's keen sight noted the subtle, unsettling changes already occurring in Sterns's head: the skin around the wound was faintly discoloring, and the tissue beneath his forehead seemed to be subtly, unnaturally swelling.
"The gamma contamination is already underway," Su Yi stated gravely. "The effect is localized to his brain tissue. The damage is done, Bruce. He is contaminated."
Bruce was devastated. "No! I got away, but he was caught in the crossfire! Is there anything you can do? He could… he could become another monster!"
Su Yi recognized the threat immediately. This wasn't a rampaging brute like the Abomination. This was contamination in the brain. If left unchecked, Samuel Sterns would eventually transform into The Leader—a hyper-intelligent, tactical gamma threat, arguably far more dangerous than the physical ones.
"This cannot be left to chance. We cannot risk another gamma catastrophe," Su Yi decided, his voice steel.
He reached into his internal storage space and pulled out a small, intricately carved wooden figurine. The object shimmered with a pale, celestial light—the Horse Talisman, which possessed the power to reverse all injuries and sickness, restoring the body to perfect health.
Gwen watched, mesmerized. "What is that, Su?"
"Insurance. The ultimate eraser," Su Yi replied. "Blonsky is depowered, Banner is cured. But Sterns represents the future threat—a tactical, thinking monster. We must cut the grass and remove the roots, permanently eliminating future trouble."
Su Yi pressed the Talisman against the wound on Sterns's forehead. The wooden carving pulsed with warm light. Instantly, the wound vanished, the swelling in the brain tissue receded, and the gamma contamination was entirely scrubbed from Sterns's system, reversed and neutralized down to the cellular level.
Samuel Sterns sighed deeply and began to stir, awakening now as a highly intelligent, but completely ordinary and healthy, human being.
The last trace of gamma chaos was gone. The crisis was truly over.