All characters owned by Marvel, rated M
2011, Horizon Labs, New York City
“Don’t!”
“What are you, twelve?”
“You won’t like me when…”
“I don’t like you period!” snapped Dr Tiberius Stone at the man in the lab coat trying to look into a microscope. He reached out and jabbed him again with his finger when a hand lashed out, grabbed the offending finger and twisted it backwards. Dr Stone squealed.
“Owowowowowowowowowowowow”
“Now, I’m angry!” said the man as he got up from his seat, forcing Stone onto his knees “The only thing keeping me from breaking your hand, your arm and you in half is…” He took a slow deliberate breath “Me, controlling my breathing and thinking of somewhere cool and tranquil”
“Yourhurtingme!” gasped Dr Stone as he danced on his toes like a girl at the pressure applied to his finger; his hand and wrist turning reddish white.
“Calm, blue, ocean”
“…please” yelped Dr Stone in a pitch that could almost shatter glass.
“If, if I let you go, will you leave me alone?”
“Yesyesyesyesyesyesyes”
“If you don’t,” the finger bent back to almost breaking point, Dr Stone howled like a trapped animal “Then this moment will seem like heaven. Now apologise”
“Imsorryimsorryimsorry”
“Calmly. Slowly. Breath. Apologise”
Dr Stone breathed through his teeth as the pain coursed through his arm “I’m sorry Dr Banner”
Bruce’s eyes burrowed deep into Tiberius’ and momentarily flickered green “You will be if we ever have to have chat like this again” Bruce let him go and watched him scamper away.
“Bruce, whilst you’re using my labs” said Max Modell from the doorway “Please refrain from assaulting my staff”
“I barely touched him” replied Bruce returning to his microscope “Besides, he’s a jerk!”
“Jerk or not, he works for me because he’s brilliant, Tony Stark brilliant!”
Bruce shrugged “Tony’s a hack! Now is there something I can do for you Max?”
“Bella worked out who you are” replied Max
“Well using my real first name and my surname, it was bound to happen” said Bruce as he got up and unclipped his badge “Won’t be long until Stone works it out, or gets told and then some idiot will actually make me angry”
“Have you considered the implant?”
Bruce pushed his glasses up “Max, I have enough people in my head without tampering with it with an experimental beta blocker drip feed into my corpus callosum!” He pointed to the item under the microscope ‘You can have that”
Max picked it up and dangled it “A watch?”
“A personal teleporter” smiled Bruce as he packed all his things into a box.
“That’s impossible!’ stammered Max.
“I do six impossible things before breakfast!” joked Bruce as he extended his hand “Thank you for allowing me to work for you”
“The pleasure has been mine Robert” beamed Max “Where to now?”
“Maybe Brazil” said Bruce.
“I wish you a safe journey; Horizon Labs will have you back any time. Now I need to find a replacement?”
“What about Hank Pym?” suggested Bruce.
“I hear Hank Pym beats his wife” said Max quietly as he headed to the door “I’d rather have your big green alter ego smash up my labs on a weekly basis than a PR nightmare like Pym!’
**
2012, Romania
Nul the Breaker of Worlds stoop there dripping the blood of vampires as Betty stood in front of him. Inside his head, Bruce screamed as did the Hulk in unison.
“Are you okay?” asked Betty
Nul shivered, his hands gripped tightly to the hammer as his internal rage became an outward explosion of emotion.
“YOU NOT BETTY!” roared Nul as he raised the hammer high above his head. Betty raised her arms in fear. Nul screamed, spittle flying from his mouth as he spun the hammer and tossed it into space. There was an audible pop as the former slave of the Serpent reverted to simply The Hulk. He grabbed Betty by the throat and squeezed, the illusion peeling away to reveal Inka, one of Dracula’s allies.
She gasped for breath as the massive green fingers closed around her head “P-p-please…”
Hulk’s arm trembled as he fought the urge to pop her head off like a zit and then threw her roughly into the castle wall with a thud. Hulk turned to see Dracula and his forces.
“Leave my lands” said Dracula coldly.
“DON’T TELL HULK WHAT TO DO!” The massive green palms slapped together creating a massive sonic boom, shattering centuries old glass.
Dracula snarled “I cannot beat you, but I will kill everyone you’ve ever met and turn them into my pets if you don’t leave”
Hulk shuddered and turned into Bruce Banner “You touch anyone I know, and I will throw you and your country into the Sun!”
The vampiric guards started towards the scrawny scientist when Dracula motioned for them to stand down. Bruce put his hands into the ripped and shredded pockets of his tattered clothes and slowly walked towards the vampires, who parted like a curtain for the man. Dracula watched him intently until he was naught but a speck on the horizon.
2013, Staten Island Ferry
Bruce Banner looked at the four gunmen on the bow pointing their weapons at the crowd as an underling came towards him with a bag.
“Wallet, phone” snapped the man in the balaclava.
Bruce shrugged and held his hands up passively.
“Hey!” the underling grabbed Bruce by the collar and dragged him from his seat “I said wallet, phone! You either hand’em over or you go over the side! What’s it going to be?”
Bruce smiled, adjusted his glasses. The underling rolled his eyes and pulled out his pistol and shot him in the face “I warned you hero!”
BLAM!
To his horror, there in Bruce’s place was the Hulk, bullet gripped between his teeth.
“Oh. My. God!” shuddered the man.
The Hulk spat the bullet out, through the man’s stomach and it came out his back, embedding into the hardwood floor. The Hulk roared, everyone on the ferry, and seemingly the tri-state area heard it.
“Holy $#@!! It’s the Hulk!” screamed one of the gunmen “What do we do?”
“RUN!” shrieked another as he bolted for the side of the ferry and attempted to dive overboard. Hulk caught his leg and dragged him back, holding him up like a landed fish.
“HULK WANT TO CATCH FERRY IN PEACE!” and with that hurled the man out towards the general direction of Bermuda. The remaining gunmen and passengers screamed and tried to get as far away from the green behemoth. He grabbed another and shook him like a maraca before launching him after his friend. Hulk growled, the gunmen dropped to their knees, hands firmly on their heads.
“HULK SAYS DON’T MOVE!” and with that the jade giant leapt off the ferry causing it to rock violently as he exited. The ferry spontaneously burst into applause.
**
To be continued…
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