The ground kept shaking violently beneath their feet.
"Everyone, stand back!" Tony shouted over the chaos.
Tony was equally startled by the devastating battle between these two massive combatants. Hulk was one thing, but what was the deal with this bear that had suddenly appeared out of nowhere?
This brown bear reminded him of another white bear he'd encountered recently.
"Beep beep beep..."
The urgent energy warning alarm sounded throughout his suit.
Tony quickly looked around and spotted a strange figure slowly walking through the scattering crowd. What made it strange was the bright silver, tall, thin humanoid form following closely behind.
Anything that came too close would be sliced cleanly in half after a flash of silver light.
"Oh god, it's chaotic enough already," Tony groaned internally.
"Miss, you'd better get out of here right now," Tony warned Ariana with genuine concern.
The tremors under his feet grew stronger with each impact. Ariana glanced up at Tony with curious eyes. She tilted her head thoughtfully and slowly raised her right hand, removing the crown bracelet from her left wrist.
"Are you a bad person?"
Hearing this innocent question, Tony waved his hand dismissively. "I'm one of the good guys."
As soon as those words left his mouth, the urgent alarm sounded again. In front of Tony, the girl raised her hand with deliberate purpose.
The ground rumbled and shook ominously. Dark energy began emanating from Ariana, her voice remaining perfectly calm.
"Then don't get in my way."
The collapsed ground suddenly exploded upward, and two massive figures were ejected from the crater. Hulk's limbs flailed helplessly in the sky. Ariana's black energy grew thicker and more intense as she clenched her five fingers with focused determination.
Flying stones, like magnets drawn to metal, attached themselves all over Hulk's struggling body. Each small stone struck like a bullet fired from a sniper rifle. More and more debris wrapped around the green giant.
"ROAR!"
Hulk struggled desperately against the supernatural restraints. When one leg broke free from the stone prison, more rocks and cement chunks would immediately attach to replace them.
Despite his theoretically infinite strength, under such unreasonable supernatural attacks, Hulk's furious roars grew weaker and weaker.
Ariana groaned softly from the strain, her gaze laser-focused, blood trickling from her nose. Black energy had completely enveloped her small frame. The little bear observed the still-struggling Hulk with tactical assessment.
It jumped forcefully with both legs, its right arm swelling to twice its normal size, and delivered a devastating blow directly to Hulk's face.
One-sided wind pressure blew past with a whistling sound that shattered nearby windows.
Hulk's massive head snapped to one side, his brain buzzing from the tremendous impact.
At this moment, Ariana also exhaustedly lowered her trembling hand.
Tony watched in complete amazement.
The stone sphere that had formed around Hulk plummeted toward the ground, making the entire street shake with a thunderous rumble that could be felt for blocks.
Dust filled the air like a massive sandstorm.
A gigantic sphere with a diameter exceeding twenty meters had been formed from compressed cement and debris. Only Hulk's unconscious head remained exposed; his hands, feet, and body were completely sealed inside the makeshift prison.
Having accomplished this incredible feat, Ariana held her pounding head, her fingers trembling as she tried to replace the crown bracelet.
But her hands shook uncontrollably, and the bracelet rolled across the broken pavement.
Ariana's face turned deathly pale.
The rolling crown leisurely headed toward a dangerous crack in the ground. Under Ariana's horrified gaze, it fell into the gaping hole in the highway.
Black energy suddenly exploded outward, spreading rapidly toward the surrounding area.
"What is this stuff?" Tony's instincts screamed that this energy was extremely dangerous and best left untouched.
Just as the black energy was about to spiral completely out of control, a familiar figure leaped from the ground hole.
Like a noble knight protecting his princess, the giant brown bear knelt on one knee, carefully supporting Ariana's arm and gently placing the crown bracelet back on her wrist.
The moment the bracelet made contact, the threatening black energy immediately dissipated.
Ariana was covered in perspiration, breathing rapidly from exhaustion.
The brown bear's body quickly shrank back to normal size, frantically pulling various items from the magical pouch on its belly.
Finally locating a bottle of water and a remarkably comfortable-looking reclining chair, the bear set everything up with practiced efficiency.
Ariana gratefully sat down. The attentive little bear thoughtfully helped her drink water, then provided a gentle massage to help her relax, and carefully dusted off her clothes.
When the Avengers team finally recovered from their various supernatural afflictions and flew over in their aircraft, they discovered a surreal scene: a little bear standing on a makeshift cement platform, holding an Eastern wok in one hand and a spatula in the other.
In front of Ariana, a complete spread of nutritious food had already been perfectly prepared and served.
This left Barton completely speechless with confusion.
"Where exactly is Hulk?" Barton asked as he disembarked from the aircraft.
Tony also disengaged his anti-Hulk armor configuration, staring at the little bear with an expression of scientific fascination. Here was a creature that could fight the Hulk one moment and cook a gourmet feast the next.
"Him?" Tony pointed toward the massive stone sphere that dominated the landscape. "He's sealed inside that thing."
Barton looked over at the structure, his mouth hanging open. He couldn't help but observe, "I thought that was some kind of new city landmark."
Hulk, trapped within the stone prison, began reverting to his human form.
Other team members were still recovering from Wanda's hypnotic visions. Natasha stumbled out of the aircraft, disoriented but functional.
If Hulk hadn't already transformed back, she would have needed to sing him a lullaby to calm his rage.
But when she looked around, she spotted Ariana, whose complexion appeared quite unhealthy.
"Ariana?" Natasha forgot about her own weakened condition from the nightmare visions.
She hurried over with concern.
The little pink bear also took its familiar position on her shoulder.
The little brown bear paused its activities, its dark eyes staring directly at the pink bear with obvious recognition.
"Little Nat?" Ariana heard the familiar voice and responded somewhat uncomfortably and weakly.
Natasha rushed over, grasping Ariana's hands with visible tears in her eyes. "What's wrong with you? Are you hurt?"
"I'm fine, just feeling a little dizzy," Ariana replied, sitting up straighter in the comfortable chair.
MOSS, which had been functioning as a cooling fan, turned its head and performed a gentlemanly bow toward Natasha. "Very pleased to meet you in person, Miss Natasha."
"MOSS?"
Seeing MOSS's true physical form also stunned Natasha into silence.
The brown bear had finished its culinary preparations and bounded down from its cooking station, carefully plating an appetizing presentation of sweet and sour fish.
Barton approached with a bewildered expression, hesitating before asking incredulously, "Is this... some kind of picnic?"
He looked at Natasha for an explanation.
Natasha said simply, "Ariana is my dear friend."
The term "dear friend" was rarely used by the typically reserved Natasha.
Barton immediately understood that this girl must have an exceptionally special friendship with the Black Widow.
Police sirens began wailing as local law enforcement arrived at the scene. The disturbance had been far too massive to ignore. It was practically a natural disaster.
A dark-skinned government official approached the group with obvious authority.
Barton grimaced. "We're in serious trouble here. Let's get back to base first."
Natasha nodded in agreement.
The brown bear calmly walked toward the approaching official.
The official stared in shock at the enormous sphere while Tony used his suit's cutting tools to carefully extract Banner from the cement prison.
"It's the Avengers," the official immediately understood who had caused this unprecedented chaos.
His gaze fell on Ariana and her companions. Just as he was about to approach for questioning, he noticed a teddy bear walking upright.
"A teddy bear?"
Before he could process why the stuffed animal was moving independently, the brown bear produced a golden card from its belly pouch and very politely presented it with both small hands.
The official couldn't make sense of the situation and hesitantly accepted the offering.
The unexpected weight in his hand startled him completely.
"Gold?!"
Was this some kind of bribe? At any other time it might be acceptable, but with such a massive disaster requiring investigation, even gold wouldn't resolve this situation.
Curious, he examined the card more closely.
"Silver Hand Fashion Construction Company, Disaster Cleanup Department, phone number..."
He realized his mistake. This wasn't a bribe attempt. This was a business card! A business card crafted from solid gold.
Even though there were many wealthy individuals in Africa, he'd never encountered anyone quite this extravagant.
The brown bear made a phone-calling gesture, indicating the official should dial the number.
The official skeptically took out his phone and called the number printed on the golden card.
After just three rings, someone answered.
A professional male voice came through the speaker.
"This is Miss Ariana's Magical Disaster Cleanup Department. We will ask three standard questions, and we will provide complimentary repair services based on the extent of damage."
"Question one: Was Miss Ariana involved as a party in causing this accident?"
"Ariana?" The official opened his mouth uncertainly. Who exactly was that?
But the bear was nodding encouragingly, so he replied, "Yes."
"Question two: Was Miss Ariana harmed in this incident or condemned and verbally abused by your organization?"
"Harm..." The official looked to the bear for guidance.
The bear shook its head definitively.
He didn't understand why he needed to follow the bear's cues, but he answered, "No."
The voice on the phone was obviously relieved.
The official had no way of knowing that within the cleanup department existed a subordinate unit called the Silencers. If Ariana had been injured in this disaster, then the Silencers would investigate and permanently clean up everyone involved in the matter.
Exactly how they would accomplish this cleanup remained a secret no one was allowed to know.
The male voice became much more cheerful and asked the final question.
"Question three: Do you harbor hostile or hateful emotions toward magic?"
"No." This question didn't require consulting the bear. The official gave his honest answer.
"Excellent. We will arrive at the repair site within five minutes. Thank you for your cooperation."
The call ended abruptly.
The official still looked completely baffled by the entire exchange.
But the bear very sensibly waved goodbye with obvious politeness.
Under the official's confused gaze, the bear transformed into its larger form, carefully picked up Ariana, and walked toward the aircraft.
The plane engines started up. The Avengers, who had caused the entire incident, along with Ariana, departed from the city.
He felt like he'd been completely manipulated.
But after exactly five minutes had passed, explosive sounds began echoing sporadically around the disaster zone.
He initially thought it was some kind of attack.
Instead, he witnessed people wearing wizard robes with silver hand insignias appearing one by one through magical transportation.
They began organizing their work with military precision.
A man approached the official and handed him an official form. As soon as he spoke, the official recognized the voice from the phone call.
"Please compile the casualty list from this incident. We will handle complete restoration within three business days."
The official stared in amazement at these uninvited but clearly professional visitors.
They drew wooden wands from their robes. Two wizards simultaneously cast repair spells.
The cracked and broken ground began mending itself automatically. More wizards appeared on nearby rooftops through magical teleportation.
Their wands moved with practiced precision, and shattered glass began flying back piece by piece to restore windows perfectly.
Five wizards approached the giant stone sphere and the collapsed roadway with obvious expertise.
Their division of labor was remarkably efficient. A severely damaged apartment building was quickly repaired to pristine condition.
Even fallen trees and destroyed market stalls were rapidly restored to their original state.
An entire street quickly returned to exactly the same condition as before the battle.
The official stared at these mysterious workers, feeling like his understanding of reality was completely shattering.
He remembered the third question from the phone call.
Magic.