Henry looked at the two men in front of him and smiled.
"Why are you standing there all stiff? Relax." He waved lazily toward the living room sofa.
"Sit down, make yourselves at home. Of course, if you break my sofa, I'll be deducting the repair costs from your future salaries."
Banner and Blonsky exchanged glances. Both could see the same thing in the other's eyes—helplessness… and, well, resignation.
Silently, they stood up, carefully stepping around the carpet, and sat down on the sofa that looked more expensive than every bed they'd ever slept on put together.
Banner looked uneasy. He sat rigidly upright, hands on his knees, eyes roaming over the lavish villa's living room. He felt like a mortal who had stumbled into a temple.
"This is insane," he muttered, looking at the Stark brothers with disbelief still in his voice.
"The world's richest man… and you, someone with unimaginable power. How did you do it? Is it because of your suits of armor?"
Blonsky, by contrast, looked far calmer, his eyes locked on Henry.
"I saw it on the news while I was on the run. Tony Stark wearing that armor," Banner added.
Henry didn't answer. Instead, he strolled to the bar, fetched two clean glasses, poured them both wine, and set the glasses down on the table in front of them.
"It's simple." He leaned against the bar, one leg crossed casually over the other.
Then, in a tone as if it were nothing special, he explained—with a jab of sarcasm aimed at Banner.
"Genetic engineering. A little tweak to the DNA sequence, and voilà. What, you can't manage that? Honestly, I thought a guy who can turn into a giant green muscleman would at least be a biology PhD."
Banner was left speechless, opening his mouth but unable to form a retort.
"Pfft—" Tony burst out laughing, immediately exposing Henry's nonsense.
"Oh, give me a break. Genetic engineering? Don't listen to this clown, Dr. Banner. He just got ridiculously lucky. The only reason he turned out like this is because he was kidnapped by Hydra—a third-rate villain group with even worse taste—and used as a guinea pig. They pumped him full of a cocktail of sketchy serums that looked like cheap cocktails. And by sheer accident, he hit the jackpot."
"Shut up!" Henry rolled his eyes.
"At least I won the jackpot. Unlike a certain someone who nearly poisoned himself to death with his own experiments and had to be saved by his little brother. Honestly, Tony, maybe you should get a CT scan. I'm starting to think your so-called genius brain isn't full of ideas but tumors."
Ignoring Tony's indignant sputtering, Henry turned back to Banner and Blonsky, his smile growing more meaningful.
"Anyway, the truth doesn't matter," he said evenly.
"What matters is this—you have two choices. Listen carefully, I'll only say it once. Will you join my team or not?"
"I'll build you a base. Independent, absolutely secure. Everything you'd need for daily life—food, clothes, shelter, entertainment, even a top-tier lab. And I can fix your identities. You'll be able to walk in the sun like normal people, instead of living like this—one of you hunted like a rat, the other chained up like a mad dog."
"That's right," Tony chimed in.
"At the very least, our meals beat General Ross's army mess hall by a million times. And the women around here? Way hotter than his soldiers."
"Hold it right there!"
Pepper, who had been sitting on the sidelines feeling like an outsider, finally couldn't take it anymore.
Her eyes widened in shock as she stared at Henry. "You're building a base? For what? Is this another one of your ridiculous projects? Because it's not in the company's budget!"
Banner and Blonsky also looked at Henry, equally confused.
What exactly was this powerful man planning?
"Are you trying to build a freaks' club?" Tony gave Henry a suspicious look and quipped.
"Gather all the monsters in the world, throw parties every day? Honestly, that sounds kinda fun."
"You know nothing." Henry shot back mercilessly.
"Has your alcohol-soaked brain got room for anything besides parties? I'm talking about a superhero team."
He ignored Tony and Pepper's shocked expressions, locking his gaze firmly on Banner and Blonsky.
"As for what this team will do—you don't need to know for now." His tone leveled out.
"The only question you need to think about right now is this: join, or don't. If you choose not to, the door's right there. You can leave. But once you do, whether you're chased across the globe by Ross, or cut open and dissected by S.H.I.E.L.D., that won't be my problem."
Finishing his speech, Henry leaned back on the sofa, picked up his glass, and sipped leisurely—like he had just been discussing the weather.
"By the way, Tony, this wine isn't the right vintage. A good Lafite shouldn't taste like this."
"What do you know! That's called complexity."
The living room fell silent.
Only the Stark brothers' bickering echoed on, utterly out of place with the tension in the air.
Banner and Blonsky exchanged a heavy glance. Both frowned deeply, lost in difficult thought.
Banner thought of his girlfriend, Betty. He wondered how she was doing—whether she was still worried about him.
Then he thought of his years in hiding. Always running, always in the dark. He was tired. So tired.
Finally, he looked at Henry.
This man, who until today had been just another Stark playboy splashed across tabloid headlines, had proven himself strong enough to beat the Hulk.
Unheard of. Unimaginable.
But he wasn't wrong.
If Banner didn't join, he'd go back to the same life—endless running, no freedom, no peace. Just fear and loneliness forever.
Maybe… joining them could mean a better life.
Blonsky was thinking the same thing. As a soldier, obeying orders was second nature. But Ross had already written him off as a failed experiment, a burden to be discarded.
If he stayed with Ross, his future would be a secret lab—endless experiments, treated like a lab rat, until he had no value left.
Right now, the only real choice seemed to be joining.
At that thought, Blonsky looked at Banner.
Banner also raised his head, eyes meeting Henry's.
In the end, it was Banner who spoke first.
***
Alright folks here's the bonus
Next goal is 200 stones for bonus
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