Marvel Comics: The Sentinel(Sentry) Chapter 236 235: The Avengers

The chaotic morning gradually ca to an end...

Although Betty still harbored resentnt toward Sean's explanation, she didn't make a scene. Instead, she was left with a tangled ss of complicated emotions.

Her mother had passed away early, and General Ross had doted on her as his most precious treasure. With her outstanding abilities and striking beauty, Betty had been the object of admiration since childhood... she could truly be called a child of fortune.

Even soone like Bruce Banner, a rising young genius in his field, hadn't been able to resist her allure.

Though she held a certain fondness for the young man with whom she had shared such intimacy, it wasn't enough to override her rationality. Unlike Gwen, who nestled against Sean like a docile lamb, Betty was different.

But what was done could not be undone. Looking at the disheveled bed and the clothes scattered across the carpet, Betty covered her face, overwheld by sha and frustration. She had never imagined that soone with her upbringing and privileged background would end up in such a situation.

"If you can't accept this, you can bla everything on ..." Sean said.

"This is all your fault to begin with! This is absurd... my God!" Betty glared at Sean, who was still lying in bed with several hickeys on his neck, her voice filled with indignation.

Gwen, who looked dazed and confused, only made the situation more unbearable...

If there hadn't been another woman in Sean's arms, perhaps this could have been a beautiful beginning. Betty didn't regret giving herself to him, but she couldn't accept this three-person ga.

"I'll forget everything that happened today!" The proud general's daughter shot Sean one last glare before getting up and picking up her scattered clothes to dress.

She decided to keep her distance from Sean from now on. Maybe returning to her teaching position at the university was the right choice.

"Betty..."

"Shut up! I don't want to hear another word from you!"

"I was just trying to say..."

"Don't expect to accept this ridiculous arrangent!"

"No, I was just going to tell you that the black lace one is Gwen's. Yours is the red semi-transparent one on the sofa."

"..."

The room fell silent...

Gwen who was still curled up in Sean's arms giggled quietly like a little mouse.

Betty's face flushed crimson as she threw the undergarnt she had mistakenly put on straight at Sean. She quickly finished dressing, tidied up briefly, and stord out, slamming the door behind her.

"Aren't you going after her? Miss Betty seems really upset." Gwen traced idle circles on Sean's chest, listening to his steady heartbeat.

"Let her cool off first. Besides, I've got another lovely girl right here." Sean chuckled, rolling over to pin the golden-haired girl beneath him.

A mischievous grin played on his lips. If Gwen hadn't been so fiery last night, consequently stirring Betty's repressed desires, this absurd threeso might never have happened so smoothly.

"Mmm, no." Gwen pressed her pale hands against his firm chest, her big eyes blinking as she pouted, "You're insatiable."

As it turned out, such feeble resistance only added to the fun rather than serving any real purpose.

Leaning down, Sean murmured, "Scientific studies show that morning exercise is a healthy habit."

The thin blanket slipped away, and the room was soon filled with heavy breathing and soft pleas, an endless spring scene unfolding.

...

~S.H.I.E.L.D., New York Branch~

Bruce Banner sat stiffly on the sofa...

Ever since the Hulk's rampage, he had been under S.H.I.E.L.D.'s surveillance. Perhaps because his emotions had stabilized recently, or maybe the Hulk needed rest after the battle, he hadn't lost control in a long ti.

A one-eyed black man in a black trench coat entered. Banner tensed, shifting back slightly...

Whether military or S.H.I.E.L.D., he remained wary of anyone from a governnt agency. He knew they all had ulterior motives, seeking to use him as a tool. Especially after being deceived by Samuel Sterns, Banner found it nearly impossible to trust anyone again.

The Hulk within him was a monster, yet so many coveted that power. He never wanted to relive the horror of being treated like a lab rat again...

"Bruce Banner. Forr physicist, wanted by the Army. Holder of multiple doctoral degrees. It's hard to imagine you're the military's most-wanted fugitive... the criminal codenad 'Hulk'..." Nick Fury sat down casually, keeping a deliberate distance from the haggard and lancholic man.

His subordinates had advised him to take precautions against this ticking ti bomb, but the director had refused.

As a seasoned top agent, Fury knew how hard it was to earn soone's trust. So he took the risk, eting Banner face-to-face without safeguards.

"Good news... the military has dropped its pursuit of you. They've found a better super-soldier now." Fury said lightly.

"Then what do you plan to do with ?" Banner's body was rigid, his portable heart rate monitor spiking to around 180.

Outside the door, a squad of ard soldiers stood ready...

Commander Maria Hill raised a clenched fist. On the rooftop of the opposite building, a man nocked an arrow, aiming straight at Banner's head.

"Barton, if his heart rate hits 200, take the shot." Hill ordered grimly.

S.H.I.E.L.D. had witnessed the Hulk's destructive power firsthand. They knew Banner's emotional instability triggered the transformation. Many had opposed Fury's decision to et him unprotected.

"It's not about what we'll do to you, Dr. Banner. It's that you have nowhere else to go." Fury narrowed his eye, studying the man's micro-expressions, "You nearly cost Tony Stark an arm. Two mbers of the Fantastic Four are still hospitalized. An entire block of Upper New York looks like it was hit by a missile... economic losses, casualties beyond count..."

"...The people of New York, those who lost loved ones and hos, are marching in the streets, demanding the Hulk's execution. Dr. Banner, you think S.H.I.E.L.D. is taking away your freedom, but in truth, we're protecting you."

"That was the Hulk's doing, not mine!" Banner clutched his head, his voice thick with anguish...

For a man of conscience, harming others was unbearable.

"The Hulk is you, Dr. Banner. You're inseparable." The director said solemnly, "We want you to stay. S.H.I.E.L.D. exists to solve problems. You don't want to share a body with a monster that could lose control at any mont, do you?"

Banner hesitated. Of course he didn't want to coexist with the Hulk. If he could be free of the green beast, it would be a miracle. But could he trust S.H.I.E.L.D.?

The last ti he had trusted Samuel Sterns, it had led to disaster, nearly destroying half of New York...

"Rest assured, Dr. Banner. S.H.I.E.L.D. isn't the Departnt of Defense. General Ross wanted to exploit you for super-soldier secrets, to turn you into a weapon. We won't do that." Fury spoke each word deliberately.

Unlike Ross who sought to ta the Hulk into a controllable weapon, S.H.I.E.L.D. had a different vision...

The world was in turmoil. Superhumans were erging everywhere, squeezing out ordinary people's survival space. The world sat atop a taphorical volcano... It was one eruption away from annihilation...

To achieve peace, one first needed power...

Fury t Banner's uncertain gaze, his lone eye gleaming as he said gravely, "I'm assembling a team. A super-soldier from the last century... A brilliant scientist... S.H.I.E.L.D.'s top agent... Now, we need you..."