"Hiss—"

A sharp intake of breath cut through the air.

George hadn't even registered what happened before Fred lost patience and leaned in, carefully reaching out to touch the ear.

It was warm!

"Hey, mate, your hands are freezing!" George stumbled back a step from the cold and clutched his ear, but froze in place the next second.

He touched it. Gave it a pinch. Touched it again.

"Merlin!" The cry burst out of him. He and Fred locked eyes, both faces blazing with shock and delight.

Yang Luoluo looked from one to the other and gave a satisfied nod.

Twins, after all. Modeling George's left ear on Fred's should work just fine, right?

She had approximately two seconds to feel pleased with herself before the twins closed in on both sides, voices tumbling over each other, the noise drilling straight into her skull.

"How did you do that?"

"This is brilliant!"

"The ear's a bit paler than mine, but that's fine, a bit of sun will sort it out."

"Merlin, I still can't believe it, George actually, whoa, whoa, whoa!"

Loki grabbed them both and hauled them away without a second thought.

Fair enough.

The twins glanced at each other. George's eyes flickered with a scheming look, and he reached into Fred's robes and produced a mirror, a two-way mirror they'd prepared specifically for this, its pair left with Molly before they'd set off.

"Ahem." George cleared his throat. Fred stepped neatly out of the mirror's line of sight.

"Fred? Oh, Merlin, how long have you two even been gone? Don't tell me you've gotten into trouble again! I have told you so many times—behave yourselves when you're out, don't go and—"

"Mum!"

The moment the two-way mirror connected, Molly's fussing voice came pouring through. George cut in quickly. "Mum, you've mixed us up again. I'm not Fred."

Molly made a dismissive sound. "Oh, come off it. If you're not Fred, then who are you? I'm not about to get confused now, Merlin's beard!"

Fred popped up beside George with a wide grin. Two identical faces stared back at Molly. Molly shrieked.

The next second, Molly's face surged forward and nearly filled the entire mirror, gaze locked fast on George's face. In the background, several sets of hurried footsteps scrambled closer.

"What is it, Mum? What's happened!"

Fred and George heard the anxious voices of the others clear as anything.

Molly stepped back, face still thunderstruck, and turned the mirror toward Ron and the rest who had come rushing in. The group looked closely.

A beat later, Fred and George were treated to another round of gasps.

Scheme perfectly executed. George pressed his new ear right up to the two-way mirror, thoroughly satisfied, and let the family on the other side get a good long look.

While the Weasleys chattered happily on their end, Yang Luoluo had already been surrounded by the Avengers on hers.

"So this is the method you were talking about?" Tony turned Yang Luoluo's hands over with a focused expression, as though hoping to see straight through them and count every impossible ability hidden inside.

Yang Luoluo nodded. "As long as there's mud, I can mold a body for Hulk. We just need someone to extract Hulk's soul and put it into the body first, and then I can fuse them together."

Hulk's face was fearsome and the approach to most things was blunt, but the mind behind it all wasn't so different from a child's, hurt when earthlings recoiled, sad when everyone treated Hulk as nothing more than Banner wearing green, yet still the first to charge forward without holding a grudge whenever everyone needed help.

Smart Hulk had been a fusion of Banner's intellect and Hulk's strength. The result: Banner lost a body. Hulk lost a soul.

Yang Luoluo hadn't crossed paths with Hulk since the worlds merged, but watching the movies she'd always found Hulk oddly endearing. Letting that disappear wasn't something she was willing to do.

"As long as someone can pull Hulk's soul out," she said firmly, "I can separate them."

Banner was already so wound up that the pacing had become continuous circles. It took Natasha's suggestion to get Banner onto the sofa, eyes shut, presumably to go and negotiate this whole thing with Hulk directly.

Tony looked toward Loki.

Loki already knew exactly what was coming. Arms folded, the refusal arrived clean and flat.

"Cursing a soul, fine. Extracting one, not my area." Besides, there wasn't much enthusiasm for helping the green one who had thrown him around. Loki's expression soured further. "Why don't you call that second-rate wizard? Seems like exactly his sort of thing."

That scene from the film had stuck: the Ancient One slapping Banner's soul clean out of Smart Hulk's body with a single palm strike. The Ancient One was Stephen Strange's teacher. Stephen Strange ought to know the same trick.

The words landed. Tony didn't hesitate, pulling out a phone and dialing Stephen's number. Whatever was said on the other end wasn't audible to the room, only something that sounded distinctly like "payment" drifted through.

A golden portal opened in front of everyone. Stephen walked through, unhurried but quick.

Stephen stopped in front of Tony and extended a hand with an expression of complete composure. "Deposit first."

Tony: "..."

Meanwhile, Peter came jogging in with both arms wrapped around a large basin of mud, dug up from the backyard while the others had been talking. Given Hulk's size, Peter had made sure to dig up plenty.

Yang Luoluo took the mud and got to work right there in front of everyone, no preamble.

Half an hour later.

"..." Steve stared at the large mud figure on the floor. The mouth opened slowly. Blue eyes filled with genuine bewilderment.

"I seem to recall... Hulk doesn't quite look like this?"

Everyone looked down.

One small sphere. One large sphere. Four thick cylinders.

Silence settled over the room.

None of them could picture this simplified Hulk doing anything in a fight.

Yang Luoluo scratched the back of her head. "I've never actually learned to sculpt. A rough shape is all it needs, once Hulk's soul goes in, the body reshapes on its own..."

If she hadn't been worried about raising suspicions, she would have just rolled out one big mud ball and called it done.

Without a word between them, everyone collectively moved on and looked over at Banner, who had been sitting on the sofa with eyes closed for quite some time now.

"...Is Banner asleep?"

"To borrow Rhodey's line: no, I'd say Banner's dead."

Fortunately the wait wasn't long. Banner's eyes opened, and the excitement came out immediately. "Hulk agreed! Let's start!"

Banner walked over to the mud figure, visibly stiffened for just a fraction of a second, then quietly looked away, feeling, despite everything, a small pang of sympathy for Hulk, who was still perfectly cheerful and unsuspecting.

Yang Luoluo and Stephen moved over as well. The three of them stood in a ring around the mud figure, expressions grave, and then a crunching sound started up from somewhere behind them.

They turned.

The rest of the group had arranged themselves neatly on the sofa. Snacks in hand. Watching with undisguised anticipation. The crunching was exactly what it sounded like.

"..." Stephen turned back around, face blank. "When this is over, I'm charging admission."

Banner, Yang Luoluo: "...Full support."

A brief exchange, and then the mood went serious again. At Stephen's direction, Banner lay down on the floor beside the mud figure.

Stephen held a hand above Banner, fingers curling into a claw, then wrenched outward. Hulk's translucent soul tore free.

Hulk had been in high spirits after talking things over with Banner. Then Hulk caught sight of the mud figure.

That face capable of making children cry went very still, and something close to bewilderment crept across it.

"Oh," Tony said, shaking his head. "Poor Hulk."

Stephen didn't give it a moment. The soul went into the mud figure in a single sharp strike. Yang Luoluo drew out the wand Frigga had given her and aimed it straight at the figure, in circumstances like these, the extra support was worth having.

White light spilled out slowly, beginning at the head, spreading downward like water washing over stone until the entire body was encased in a bright orb. Everyone watched as the white mass twisted and contorted. Something pulled tight in every chest in the room.

Cold sweat tracked down Yang Luoluo's forehead. Her hand around the wand trembled, the first sign that the power was running dry.

She bit down and gripped tighter.

The shifting slowed. Then it stopped. The white glow began, finally, to fade.

The instant the last of the light went out, Yang Luoluo dropped straight to the floor, wand clutched to her chest, pulling in breath after ragged breath.

Loki was behind her in an instant, an arm wrapping around her, eyes sharp with worry. "What's wrong?"

Green magic slipped into her body without a sound, checking, searching. A moment passed. Then Loki's expression cracked.

The others crowded close. A ring of anxious faces looked down at her.

Yang Luoluo opened her mouth with some effort.

"...Can we go get barbecue right now? I'm actually going to starve to death."

➤ Next: Hulk (2)

Chapter 86 - Hulk (2)

The people nearby froze for a moment, the tension dissolving with those words. Tony couldn't hold back a laugh, shook his head, and pulled out a phone.

"You really gave us a scare. I'll reserve the whole place right now, you can eat as much as you want today."

Hearing that, Yang Luoluo relaxed and leaned back against Loki, letting out a slow breath.

Shaping a physical body for Hulk had cost her an enormous amount of energy. She needed to rest properly for a while.

Loki quietly shifted, making it more comfortable for her to lean against.

"Oh, right — what about Hulk? It worked, didn't it?"

Only then did Yang Luoluo remember Banner and Hulk, who had been completely forgotten by everyone. She tried to push herself up and peek over, but a hand shot out from behind and covered her eyes completely.

The next second, Loki's voice came from directly above her, grinding through clenched teeth. Yang Luoluo could practically picture the expression on that face.

"So, not a single one of you thought to find that guy a pair of pants?!"

Ah, well...

Yang Luoluo obediently settled back down, staying perfectly still with her eyes covered while the sounds of frantic scrambling filled the room. A little while later, Loki finally lowered the hand.

"Hulk!"

A rough, booming voice rang out. Hulk, face lit up with pure excitement, sprinted several laps around the hall before finally skidding to a stop.

Then, without warning, Hulk wheeled around and charged straight toward Yang Luoluo. Loki immediately grabbed her and moved to pull them both away, face full of wariness.

By Odin! Loki never wanted to lay eyes on that infuriating green oaf again!

Yet Yang Luoluo didn't move. Instinct told her Hulk would never hurt her.

Sure enough, Hulk barreled up, scooped her off the ground with both arms, and kept right on shouting. "Hulk! Like! Luoluo!"

Hulk was visibly holding back the strength. Yang Luoluo's face showed no fear, no pain, just bright, beaming excitement. The onlookers finally relaxed.

"Honestly," Tony rubbed his chin with a smirk, "this whole scene looks exactly like Rafiki holding up Simba in The Lion King."

The crowd nodded.

"What?" Steve was the only one standing there with a completely blank expression.

"..." Tony gave Steve a sympathetic pat on the shoulder and quietly made a mental note: have J.A.R.V.I.S. play this centenarian one movie a day, starting immediately.

In sharp contrast to everyone else, Loki stood alone at the edge of the group looking thoroughly displeased, though that was nothing new; the usual look, as if the entire world owed a few billion. Nobody paid it any mind.

Hulk was still riding the high. Hulk set Yang Luoluo carefully back on the ground, then went person to person around the room, wrapping nearly everyone in a hug.

"Hulk! Like Banner! Like Captain! Like Tin Can!"

Tony Tin Can Stark smiled at Hulk with a face that said anything but warmth.

"Like little Nat! Like Spider-Bug! Like..." Hulk went through every single name without tiring of it, and each person called responded with a hug in return. Peter even hollered that a proper welcome gift was absolutely necessary, and hearing that, Hulk was so thrilled that Peter got hoisted straight up onto those massive shoulders.

Hulk made the full round, then finally ambled over to Loki last. Everyone else watched with barely concealed interest, very curious to see how things would go between these two.

"Hulk..." The expression was distinctly reluctant. "...kind of like. Weak god..."

Newly reborn, swept up in the wave of his own excitement, Hulk had decided to be magnanimous, to forgive Loki for everything, and grudgingly like Loki just a little.

Loki, however, was not the least bit grateful. The memories of being repeatedly slammed into the floor came flooding back. Furious, Loki reached for the small knife through gritted teeth.

Today was the day.

"Nobody asked you to like me! You—"

Sensing disaster, Yang Luoluo sprinted over and slapped a hand over Loki's mouth. Loki glared at her with furious eyes. She held firm and didn't let go.

"Come on, come on, let's just go eat..." She shot a look at the others, but Loki was still fuming. Yang Luoluo had no choice but to clutch her stomach with an aggrieved little pout.

"Loki, I'm going to starve to death..."

And then she put on the full performance, the look of someone teetering at the absolute edge of starvation, swaying as if about to collapse.

It worked perfectly. Loki's anger visibly drained away. One cold glance at Hulk, one long unreadable look at Yang Luoluo, and then a sigh.

"Fine. Let's go."

The crowd, thoroughly ignored throughout all of this, exchanged glances.

"Aww, what a shame."

Tony's face was full of regret. Tony had really been hoping to watch Hulk beat Loki into the floor.

......

The days following Hulk and Banner's full separation were nothing short of lively. Every day brought a fresh chorus from different directions.

"Hulk! Did you drink the yogurt I left in the fridge?!"

"Hulk didn't!"

"No, Hulk, you cannot jump down from the upper floor — use the stairs, okay?"

"Hulk! Hate! Stairs!"

"Hulk, Hulk! Want to play Lego? This is the newest set, I saved up pocket money for ages to get it!"

"Play! Spider-Bug! Good person!"

Hulk's mind was no different from a young child's, so everyone simply treated Hulk as an oversized kid. Even when something got broken or some kind of trouble got caused, the response was always patient, calm, and measured.

Among all the Avengers, Hulk's number one favorite was Natasha, always gentle and soft-spoken, always patient when Hulk got upset. Second was Yang Luoluo, who had set Hulk free. Third was Peter, who never got tired of playing.

Everyone else had been tossed clean out of Hulk's mind.

That wildly lopsided ranking stung Banner just a little. "I've been with Hulk longer than anyone, and now Hulk barely even acknowledges me."

Banner vented to Tony with a gloomy expression, looking every bit like a parent whose grown child had stopped being close.

"Bruce, you know what this is called? Jealousy." Tony shot a surprised glance, then shook his head and kept busy with the work at hand.

"Honestly, the fact that you only ever let Hulk out when you needed something, there's a general term for that kind of behavior."

"A player."

Delivered plainly, concisely. Banner felt even gloomier.

"Alright, stop moping. Instead of sitting around feeling sorry, why not get Hulk a welcome gift." Tony couldn't stand to watch it and, after a moment's thought, offered a suggestion.

"Hulk is just a kid right now. Give a gift and Hulk will be happy enough to forget everything and go right back to being best buddies with you."

Case in point: after Peter gave Hulk a set of building blocks, the first thing out of Hulk's mouth every single morning became "Is Spider-Bug coming to play today."

That's just how kids are.

Banner hesitated, then gave a small nod.

Time to seriously think about what Hulk would like.

......

Banner wasn't the only one with that idea. Yang Luoluo and the others were mulling it over too.

"So, what do you think Hulk would actually like?"

Wanda rested a cheek on one hand, genuinely stumped. Pietro, on the other hand, was already running with it.

"A punching bag? Or a whole boxing set, something tells me Hulk might enjoy that."

"Or food? Would Hulk like Butterbeer? I actually thought the wizards' Butterbeer was pretty good."

"Ugh, this is impossible. Picking a gift is so hard. Why don't we just gift-wrap Peter and send him over, Hulk clearly loves playing with Peter."

Wanda pressed a hand to her forehead. "If you don't mind getting wrapped up in a cocoon of webbing, go ahead."

Pietro shrank back slightly.

"Hmm..." Yang Luoluo turned it over in her mind. Before the worlds had merged, she'd watched a few animated shows. She seemed to remember one of them mentioning that Hulk liked small, delicate glass pieces, glass animals in particular.

"Hulk actually likes things like that?!" Pietro's voice rang out in disbelief. Wanda's eyes went wide too. Only then did Yang Luoluo realize she'd said all of that out loud without meaning to.

She gave an uncertain nod. "That's what it said in the show, but I don't actually know what our Hulk is like."

What if Hulk didn't like those things at all?

Pietro was still reeling over the idea that someone Hulk's size could enjoy tiny, delicate glass objects. Wanda had already made up her mind.

"Let's go! Out shopping for a gift!"

Pietro gave a helpless look.

Shopping for a gift was probably just the excuse. What Wanda really wanted was to go out and shop.

One glare from Wanda, and Pietro was on his feet.

"Alright, alright, let's go! Right now!"

➤ Next: Fire