Marvel: I Trade Devil Fruits for Power

"How do modern people choose to deal with this?" When Captain Rogers asked this, everyone present was stunned.

The situation didn't feel like a problem for "modern" people; it felt like something out of an ancient Eastern occult legend. The voodoo doll curse—this was the power the Devil Envoy had bestowed upon Loki, and it left the Avengers utterly paralyzed.

Keep beating Loki? That meant killing innocent civilians. Let him go? Impossible.

"Hey, big guy from the sky, Thor, right?" Tony called out, his voice sharp. "Your brother is a sociopath. What do you suggest?"

"The Tesseract," Thor growled, ignoring the jab. "Loki, surrender the Tesseract, and I will take you back to Asgard for trial."

"No, brother. I refuse. I'll give you a choice: help me kill these people, and I'll return the Tesseract when I'm done with it."

"Loki, you disappoint me." Thor raised a fist.

"Whoa, whoa, wait!" Captain Rogers shouted, stopping him just in time. "If you strike him, you're killing our people—wait, I mean, you're killing Earthlings!"

Thor smashed his fist into the ground beside Loki instead, the concrete fracturing like a spiderweb.

"Maybe we should just take him back to the ship," Tony suggested, desperate for any plan that didn't involve accidental mass murder. "We're not interrogators."

On the Helicarrier, Nick Fury faced a stone-walled Loki, who mocked him relentlessly, even joking that his holding cell was designed for the Hulk. Dr. Banner, monitoring from the lab, couldn't help but mutter how truly insufferable the trickster was.

Finally, Natasha Romanoff took over. With her expert interrogation techniques, she pressured Loki until he cracked. "Your target... is the Hulk inside Dr. Banner?" she asked, her eyes widening in disbelief.

Loki blinked, confused as to how she knew.

"Does Barton not tell you everything?" Natasha countered. "Do you not know that Dr. Banner's girlfriend can suppress the Hulk at will?"

The intel was shared immediately. The entire command staff was stunned to learn that Betty Ross—the woman who had been protecting Banner—was a fruit user. S.H.I.E.L.D. learned that Betty's "Hollow-Hollow Fruit" was terrifyingly effective. It could force even Thor into a state of crushing melancholy, making him want to toss his hammer aside and give up on life. Even Nick Fury, the king of spies, could barely withstand the wave of despair.

Just as they were trying to fathom how Loki intended to bypass Betty, the Helicarrier rocked. Outside, a plane piloted by the mind-controlled Barton approached. Hawkeye fired a special, explosive-tipped arrow directly into Engine Three.

BOOM!

The explosion sent the scientists in the lab flying. Seeing Betty injured, Banner's rage began to simmer.

"Dr. Banner, calm down! Please!"

"Betty is fine, just a scratch!"

Betty herself stood by, her ghost-like hollow-spirit hovering, ready to strike. "Bruce, I'm alright. Don't let yourself get angry."

But the trigger had been pulled. Banner's breathing hitched, his eyes shifting.

"Too late," Betty whispered, sending her spirit into him.

"Sigh... being angry is such a hassle," Banner muttered, his rage vanishing instantly as he slumped into a state of extreme lethargy. "Let me just be a salted fish."

On the bridge, Fury watched the chaos. Engine One and Three were failing, and the Helicarrier began to tilt violently. "Tony! You need to repair the engines! Captain, assist him!"

"Understood!"

"Thor, watch your brother," Fury ordered, before turning to the lab. "Pepper, Betty—stay put. We'll send agents to guard you."

Left alone with a depressed Bruce Banner, Pepper Potts felt a shiver of anxiety. "This task was left to us? Two women?"

"Maybe you can use your ability to block the corridor," Betty suggested. "Then no one can get in."

But the breach was already coming. Barton and his team of mind-controlled agents tore through the ship. They burst into the lab, guns blazing. Betty immediately unleashed her hollow-spirits, forcing the attackers to their knees.

But then, a figure walked through the door, unbothered by the crushing despair. He leveled a gun directly at Betty.

"No! How are you not controlled?" Betty gasped.

It was Dr. Yinsen.

Having lost his family and lived as a ghost of a man for years in that cave, Yinsen's heart was an empty void. He had no hope left to be crushed, and therefore, Betty's fruit was useless against him. He was the only person in the world who could act as Loki's perfect weapon.

"My apologies," Yinsen said coldly. He pulled the trigger.

BANG!

Pepper stepped in front of Betty, her clothes—made from the same material as Tony's armor—shifting into a rigid shield. She deflected the bullets, but the tactical advantage was short-lived. Outside, Hawkeye stood ready.

"Ten times size! Ten times speed!"

SHINK!

The arrow slammed into Pepper's metallic shielding with such force that it blew both her and Betty back. A secondary explosive detonated, knocking everyone in the room unconscious.

Barton stepped into the wreckage. "Goodbye, Dr. Yinsen. Hello, Hulk."