Marvel: The Enlightened One-Chapter 94: [] - Betty Ross’s Martyrdom Play

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Hawk’s raised hand froze in mid-air.

The door opened. Betty Ross, wearing a simple housecoat, looked at him with a calm expression, then opened the door wider and stepped aside.

"Please, come in."

It was as if she had been expecting him.

Hawk lowered his hand. He looked at the woman before him—a woman who showed no fear of death, only a quiet resignation—and let out a short laugh. He stepped inside.

The door closed behind him.

Betty walked toward the apartment’s bar. "Can I get you something to drink?"

"No, thank you. I’m on a schedule."

"..."

Betty, who had almost reached the bar, flinched. Her entire body tensed for a fraction of a second before she took a deep, steadying breath. "Then, may I have a glass of whiskey?"

Hawk considered it. "You may."

"Thank you."

Betty said, her voice even. She walked behind the bar, took a bottle of whiskey from the cabinet, and poured herself a glass.

Hawk watched her, his expression unreadable.

Betty raised the glass to her lips. Her expression remained perfectly controlled, her eyes showed no fear, but the slight, barely noticeable tremor in her hand gave her away.

No one faces death without fear.

Hawk was afraid of death too.

But—

"It’s a little late for regrets."

"You killed my father." Betty met his gaze, her tone level. "I was only trying to avenge him. Just like you did for your sister."

Hawk laughed. "Yes. And that’s the only reason you’re getting the chance to enjoy a last drink."

"Thank you."

"You’re welcome." Hawk looked at the glass in her hand, still two-thirds full. "I’m curious. What was your original plan? Kidnap Gwen and force me into a trap?"

Betty took another sip of whiskey. "No..."

"Then what?"

"Kill her. And send you the video."

"..." Hawk listened to her words, a flicker of surprise in his eyes, but his expression remained unchanged.

He was beginning to suspect that Betty Ross was completely insane.

But that was fine.

Insanity might get you a pass in a court of law, but not with him.

Hawk let out a soft laugh. "A good plan. If you can’t kill me, kill my girlfriend. That way, even if I find you and kill you, she’s already gone."

"Yes." Betty admitted it without hesitation, her voice low and steady. "But you ruined it."

As she spoke, a self-mocking smile touched her lips. She drained the last of the whiskey in her glass, set it down on the bar, and looked up at him.

"She’s very lucky."

"Her good luck is your misfortune," Hawk said, his face a mask of stone.

WHOOSH.

THUD.

He appeared before her in an instant, his hand clamped around her neck. He flashed back from behind the bar and slammed her against the wall, lifting her off her feet.

His grip loosened just enough for her to speak. "You have one last chance to speak."

"Heh..."

Betty didn’t struggle. She didn’t show any fear. She just stared into his eyes and let out a strange, chilling laugh, her voice suddenly cold and filled with venom.

"I’ll be waiting for you in Hell."

"..."

Hawk froze for a second. He looked at the pure hatred in her eyes and smiled faintly. "I’ll be there."

After all, his sister was in Hell, waiting for him to bring her home.

With that, he tightened his grip. A sharp crack echoed in the silent room, and the look of venomous hatred on Betty’s face was frozen in place forever.

Betty Ross, Dead.

Thump.

Her lifeless body slumped to the floor.

Hawk looked away from her corpse, his gaze landing on a large photograph hanging on the living room wall.

It was a wedding photo of Bruce Banner and Betty Ross. 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢

Hawk’s brow furrowed. A thought struck him, and his eyes returned to the body on the floor.

His mind was racing.

After a moment, he looked at Betty’s corpse and let out a cold, sharp laugh.

"Heh."

"Using yourself as bait?"

"Alright."

"I’ll give you that."

As he looked at the wedding photo, he understood her game.

Betty knew she could never kill him herself.

So, if she wanted revenge, she had to rely on someone else.

But who would risk getting involved?

Who could help her?

After his show of force at Quantico, the military was silent. They weren’t going to make a move on him again, not until they had a plan with at least an eighty percent chance of success.

Unless they wanted a repeat of the Quantico disaster.

S.H.I.E.L.D?

Maybe...

But it had been two months since he’d returned to New York, and S.H.I.E.L.D hadn’t made a move. That told him they had no intention of getting involved.

Maybe it was because he had been in the right, or maybe, like the military, they knew they couldn’t win.

Whatever the reason, without any outside help, Betty had no way of getting her revenge.

So—

She had chosen to martyr herself. Her marriage to Bruce Banner was likely part of her plan.

Bruce might not have been willing to seek revenge for his former father-in-law, a man who had hunted him across the globe.

But he would absolutely seek revenge for his murdered wife.

And if his wife had been pregnant, all the better.

But she wasn’t.

Hawk was sure of it.

He figured her original plan had been to get pregnant and then put her martyrdom scheme into motion. But when that didn’t work out, she’d decided to go ahead anyway. She was gambling that after Hawk killed her, her new husband Bruce Banner would come after him for revenge.

It was a good plan...

And Hawk was curious to see if it would work.

He’d felt a twinge of regret after leaving Culver Lake. After all, the Hulk was dead, but Bruce Banner wasn’t. What was to stop him from becoming the Hulk again? But at the time, he’d still been stuck in his old way of thinking.

Now, he would give Betty’s plan a chance to play out.

Hawk left.

...

Bruce returned.

By the time he got home, Hawk had been gone for over two hours. Betty Ross’s body lay sprawled on the floor, already cold and rigid.

When Bruce saw her, it felt like someone had hit him with a sledgehammer, his mind unable to process what he was seeing.

Victoria Hand, who had met him downstairs and come up with him, saw the body at the same time.

S.H.I.E.L.D’s satellites had been watching.

She had known the moment Hawk had left, but she had waited for Bruce to arrive before going up.

Victoria Hand looked at Bruce, at his trembling lips and the tears welling in his eyes. She was about to say something, but a raw, animalistic roar cut her off.

"BETTY!!!"

Bruce Banner scrambled to her side and fell to his knees. He looked at his wife’s body, his eyes filled with disbelief. His hands trembled as he reached out to touch her.

The moment his fingertips touched her cold skin, he shattered. He pulled her body into his arms and broke down completely.

"..." Victoria Hand watched, and took a deep, steadying breath.

Bruce held Betty’s body and wept for a long, long time. He cried until the sun had set.

Finally, Victoria Hand, unable to watch any longer, gently pulled him away. He collapsed to the floor, watching numbly as S.H.I.E.L.D agents came in to collect Betty’s body.

Bruce Banner sat on the floor, his eyes vacant, as if all the strength, all the will to live, had been drained from him.

Victoria Hand was silent for a moment. "My condolences, Bruce."

"Who..."

"What?"

"WHO DID THIS!!!"

The three words were squeezed from between his teeth.

Victoria Hand looked at him and saw it. His eyes were bloodshot, and the flames of vengeance were beginning to burn within them.

"Hawk."

Victoria Hand didn’t hide the truth. But after she said the name, she immediately explained the context—how Betty had hired criminals through a black market broker to kidnap and murder Hawk’s girlfriend, and how Hawk had retaliated.

At first, Bruce’s anger had been a raging inferno. But as Victoria Hand finished her explanation, the flames in his eyes flickered.

The implication was clear.

Betty had made the first move. From a certain point of view, Hawk killing her was just revenge.

After hearing the full story, Bruce Banner fell silent.

Victoria looked at his vacant expression and pressed her lips together. "I’m sorry for your loss."

"..."

Bruce Banner sat on the floor.

Then, as if something had just occurred to him, he looked up at the large wedding photograph on the wall and stared.

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