//------------------------------// // Bugs On A Windshield // Story: The Strongest There Is // by Onomonopia //------------------------------// With a massive right hook, Hulk blasted a large number of changelings into a green goo that splattered over the buildings and ponies near him. But for every changeling he seemed to smash, at least ten more would take its place. Hulk screamed in rage as the seemingly infinite swarm of bugs all rammed into his chest at once and drove him through the air and into the ground, creating a crater that shook the earth. Hulk pushed himself back to his feet despite the number of bugs that were swarming him. He lashed out with a wild left that splattered a large number, but the changelings had started going for his eyes, forcing him to close his eyes as he fought. "GAH! Puny bugs annoy Hulk! Hulk smash all-" Hulk's sentence was cut off by a changeling flying into his mouth, firing its magic inside his head in hopes of killing him. Hulk spat the bug out and crushed it with his foot, now having to keep his mouth shut to make sure it didn't happen again. 'Behind you Hulk!' Hulk spun and drove both fists forward, smashing the changelings that had tried to get him from behind. Hulk growled at the others and they momentarily retreated. "Banner choosing to help Hulk?" Hulk growled to himself. 'Like you said, we both want to keep them safe. So how about we work together?' Banner asked the Hulk. 'Brains and brawn, the ultimate combination.' "Just don't hold Hulk back!" Hulk roared as he leapt into the air to grab onto a number of changelings, and he threw them into the ground before catching himself on the side of a turret and re-launching himself at Chrysalis. Chrysalis scowled at him and vanished in a spiral of green fire. Hulk roared as he passed through the flames and was tackled by a large number of changelings on the other side. They drove him into a wall and pinned him there with the sheer number of bodies they were throwing at him. 'Hulk, thunderclap!' Banner's voice rang out. Hulk nodded and slammed his hands together, generating a shockwave so powerful that the changelings closest to him were ripped apart by the force, while the others were blown back. The building behind him collapsed as well, dropping Hulk to the ground. Hulk stood up and started to look around for Chrysalis. "GRAH!" Hulk roared as a bolt of magic struck him in the back. He spun with a snarl to see that hundreds of Chrysali were looking at him with evil grins. "So Hulk, can you figure which one of us is-?" Hulk slammed his fist into the talking Chrysalis' face and sent her flying away. She landed and turned back into a regular changeling with a broken face. "Sorry, you guessed wrong," the others said with a smile. "So which one is real?" "IT NO MATTER! HULK SMASH YOU ALL!" Hulk roared as he threw himself into the hundreds of Chrysali. He landed on top of one and shattered her exoskeleton before swinging his arm into another and pulverizing her, just as he grabbed a third one to throw into a group. None of them turned out to be the real Chyrsalis, but Hulk noticed that even more changelings began to morph into even more Chrysali. "TO MANY BUG PEOPLE! HULK SMASH ALL BUG PEOPLE!" 'Hulk, there's a pony that needs your help!' Hulk turned towards the direction that Banner was indicating and found a pony surrounded by a large number of changelings. Hulk looked back toward the Chrysalis clones with his desire to crush them, but saving the pony won out. So he charged the changelings and smashed them within seconds, crouching over the pony. "Pony alright?" he asked. It looked up at him and smiled--a very toothy smile. "You no po-" Hulk roared as the "pony" self-destructed, blinding him from the magical explosion. All of the Chrysali took this moment to attack him from behind and swarmed him with magic and bodies. Hulk grabbed ahold of the ground and shook like a dog, tossing all of the Chrysali off of him. One of them had blasted a turret with her magic and sent it crashing down towards the Hulk. 'Hulk, look out!' Hulk turned and lifted up his arms, catching the turret as it came down on him. The Chrysali all began to laugh at him until the Hulk lifted the turret over his head and tossed it towards the clones, splattering a massive number of them as the turret rolled over most of them and off the side of the city. He roared with what he thought was victory...until a massive dark fist slammed into Hulk's fist and sent him flying across the city, landing face first near where the ponies were being evacuated by Luna onto an airship. "Hulk, what's wrong?" Luna asked as she ran over to him. He pulled his head out of the ground and turned to look up at the sky, where a small black dot was getting closer. "Run, moon pony," Hulk growled. "Hulk handle this." Luna watched as a black Hulk-like creature landed in front of them, creating a massive crater that knocked most of the ponies off their hooves. Luna watched with horror as a black Hulk pulled itself out of the crater. It looked like Hulk, but had deep green eyes with no pupils and holes in its body. "What do you think, Hulk?" the dark Hulk asked in Chrysalis' voice. "One of my abilities is to copy the strength and skill of any opponent. That means I'm just as strong as you." "Puny bug lady not as strong as Hulk! Hulk is strongest," Hulk roared as he charged into her and drove his fist into her jaw. Her head snapped back and was sent flying backwards into the side of a building. Before she could recover, he sprinted towards her and started throwing 'lefts and rights' into her gut. Chrysalis hissed loudly and Hulk was immediately swarmed by more changelings. Hulk backed up to try and swat all the bugs, giving Chrysalis a chance to run forward and slammed both fists into his nose. Hulk skidded back across the ground and slammed his head against a building, dazing him slightly. He cleared his head just in time to watch as a black fist came right towards his head. 'MOVE!' Despite Hulk not moving himself, his body still rolled out of the way of the attack. Although the building was devastated, Hulk looked down at his body in confusion. "What Banner do?" Hulk asked as he blocked a punch by Chrysalis and kicked her off of him. "How Banner control Hulk?" 'You seem to forget that it's my body as well,' Banner's voice said. 'Let's be honest Hulk, you're horribly outnumbered. But if you're willing to work with me, I can help even those odds.' Hulk wasn't sure if he should trust Banner, but as he looked out at all of the changelings and the dark Hulk standing across from him, he realized that maybe a pair of eyes in the back of his head might not hurt. "Hulk agree," Hulk said. 'Good, now behind you!' Hulk spun with an uppercut and blasted a pair of changelings into goo, which splattered all over the other changelings. Chrysalis roared and charged at the Hulk. 'Alright, judging from the way she's attacking, he's going for an overhead blow. Block!' Hulk swung both his arms up to intercept the incoming attack, which was what Banner had said it was. 'Now, kick out her knee!' Hulk smiled as he slammed his foot into her knee and buckled it, dropping Chrysalis as she cried out in pain. Hulk smiled and drove his knee into her jaw, snapping her head back and dropping her. Hulk then scooped his hands under her and lifted Chrysalis over his head, roaring as he did so. "Puny bug lady not as strong as Hulk! Hulk strongest there is!" Hulk roared as he brought his arms back to throw her. "Hulk, wait!" Hulk frowned and brought his hands down, finding Pinkie in his grasp, crying. "Pink pony?" he asked in confusion as he looked at her. Before Banner could warn him, Pinkie smiled and drove a Hulk fist into his jaw and knocked him back. Hulk snarled as "Pinkie" swiftly turned back into the dark Hulk and drove its shoulder into him, smashing her feet into the ground and driving the both of them through multiple walls. Hulk roared and slammed his feet into the ground as well, wrapping his arms around her waist and lifting with his might. He lifted her over his head and powerbombed her into the city streets, sending her right through the street and to the lower level. Hulk jumped down after her and landed on her chest feet first. Chrysalis roared in pain but managed to get her hands underneath Hulk's feet and toss him off. Hulk rolled and came back up on his feet, jumping into the air and attempting an elbow drop. Chrysalis put her feet up and caught Hulk on them, using his own momentum against him and launching him head over heels. Hulk crashed into a donut shop and landed upside down. "Ugh, how Hulk losing?" he asked himself. 'Actually, you two seem evenly matched,' Banner said with a frown. 'Which is odd. She shouldn't be able to mirror your movements so perfectly. It's like she knows everything you can--WATCH OUT!' Hulk looked forward just in time to watch two feet slam into his face and kick him out through the other side of the building. He pushed up through the rubble with a roar, angry that he as being beten by an imposter. "GRAAAAHHHHH! HULK TEAR PUNY BUG LADY IN TWO!" Hulk screamed as he burst back through the building and grabbed Chrysalis, swinging her around and tossing her back up to the higher levels. Hulk jumped up past Chrysalis' flailing body and came to a stop above her, lifting both hands over his head. He started a powerful double smash...only to watch as Chrysalis changed her shape into that of a fruit bat and zipped right out of the way. She flew behind him as he began to tumble through the air and changed into dark Hulk, driving her fist down into his back and sending him crashing to the city streets. Hulk pulled himself out of the massive crater that he had made and shook his head, trying to clear the stars out of his eyes. "Puny bug lady's changing power getting the better of Hulk," Hulk growled, but struggled to get himself up. 'Yeah, her shape-shifting ability is definitely giving her the upper hand,' Banner agreed. 'So what do you say we return the favor?' "What Banner mean?" 'I mean that she's not the only one who can transform,' Banner said with a little bit of evil in his voice. 'What do you think Hulk? What to give it a try?' "Hulk like the way Banner think!" Hulk said with a smile as Chrysalis landed next to them, hissing and rushing towards them. Hulk got back to his feet and started to rush towards her as well, bringing a fist back just as she did. But right before the two collided, Hulk allowed Banner to take over and shrunk the both of them down to his size. Banner went into a slide which confused Chrysalis, then Banner turned back into the Hulk as they slid between her legs. Hulk grabbed onto her ankles and swung her into the ground as he got up, shattering the street beneath her. He picked her up and slammed her repeatedly into the ground. She managed to escape his grasp by changing into a pegasus and flying up, before changing back into the dark Hulk. Hulk smiled and jumped up as well, but morphed into Banner who grabbed onto one of her arms and swung himself over her this time. Hulk took over and grabbed Chrysalis from behind, placing her in a 'Full Nelson' wrestling hold as both of them slammed face first into the pavement. "HULK IS STRONGEST!" he roared as he lifted the limp dark Hulk up from the ground and punched it in the gut. Chrysalis coughed up green blood and hissed weakly, causing her swarm of changelings to re-attack Hulk. Hulk dropped her and turned towards the new threat ready to fight...until a blast of magic that was the same color as midnight knocked a number of the changelings back. "Why night pony get in Hulk's way?" Hulk asked Luna as she landed in front of him. "You told me to stay out of the fight with the other you," Luna said with a smirk. "However, the changelings are fair game." She let loose a battle cry and charged towards the changelings, with her night guard following her into battle. Hulk smiled as she began to flatten them with her might, combined with the guards' walloping the changelings. Hulk turned his attention back to the dark Hulk, who had just gotten to her feet. "Puny bug lady ready to lose?" Hulk asked her as he grabbed her head and forced her to look up at him. "Hulk enjoy smashing you." Hulk brought his fist back and slammed it into her face, breaking bones and drawing blood. Hulk continued to punch her, his fist gaining power with every hit. "Puny bug lady thought she could beat Hulk, thought she was stronger! Hulk show her that Hulk is strongest!" 'Hulk, that's enough. She's beaten,' Banner said in the back of his mind. Hulk ignored him and continued to punch the already motionless Chrysalis. Hulk went for the final punch, but his arm suddenly wouldn't move. "Banner better let Hulk smash bug lady," Hulk growled. "Or Hulk smash Banner." 'You know that's not how it works,' Banner said. 'Now let her-' Hulk umphed as she punched him below the belt and doubled him over, jumping up and driving her elbow into his back. Hulk was slammed into the ground while Chrysalis grabbed his ankle and began to spin. She built up more and more speed with each rotation before letting go. Hulk sailed off with a roar into the distance, letting the broken Chrysalis to walk over to Luna, who had been pinned by multiple changelings. "Well...Princess Luna..." Chrysalis panted, trying to fix her shattered jaw. "But...as you've seen...your champion is no-" "BUG LLLAAAADDDDDYYYYYY!!" Chrysalis didn't even have time to turn as Hulk descended from the sky holding a large chunk of rock. "GGGGAAAAMMMMMAAAAAA CCCCCRRRRRUUUUUUSSSSSSHHHHHH!!" Luna rolled away while the changelings fled for their lives as Hulk came crashing down on Chrysalis, destroying her and anything else around them. The entirety of Canterlot shook under the force of the impact as Luna was forced to throw up a shield just to save herself from debris. Once the debris had finally died down, Luna walked over to the crater that used to be the airship shop and looked into it. Hulk was pulling himself out of the crater while a smoldering Chrysalis was lying at the bottom, not moving at all. "Well, you know how to make an entrance," she said with a smile as she offered Hulk her hoof. Hulk growled and ignored it, dazed and trying to stand. "Where bug lady?" he asked her. "She won't be bothering anypony again," Luna said as she looked back down at her body. "So that just leaves-" "Good job Hulk, five star match," a voice said from everywhere and nowhere at the same time. "But, can you handle Discord's circus extravaganza!?" Hulk snarled as a massive curtain appeared in front of them, opening to reveal what looked like a gladiatorial arena. Hulk jumped through the curtains and into the center, preparing for the next bout.