Hulk opened his eyes as he felt the teleportation energy leave him, looking around to find that he was now standing in the center of a desert that had sheer nothingness for miles. He looked up to see that the moon was directly overhead now; the sight made him smile, since he now knew that no ponies were in harm's way. Hulk started to rotate his shoulders, cracking his knuckles in preparation for what he was about to do.
'You ready to do this?' Banner asked him. Hulk smiled and planted both feet into the sand, sending out a massive shockwave across the sea of sand.
"Hulk always ready to smash," Hulk said with a chuckle. Then he noticed something out of the corner of his eye and turned his head with a snarl, seeing that he wasn't alone. "What shiney pony want now?" he asked the silver mare, who was sitting next to him, gazing up at the moon.
'I still do not get you,' she said softly. 'You are a monster, but you are willing to die to save these ponies. The other you is afraid to be harmed, but he is always the first to make a sacrifice. You are the polar opposite of my other two champions, yet you are still here, still trying to save them. Are all creatures from your world like you?'
"Puny pony don't get it," Hulk said with a smirk, glad to see that he had confused her. "Hulk not monster, Hulk not hero either. Hulk is what Hulk chooses to be. And now, Hulk choose to catch puny moon!"
'And you were right in saying that I was afraid of being hurt before,' Banner told her. Both he and Hulk were a little surprised when it seemed that she could hear him, for she nodded for Banner to go on. 'I was always running, afraid of the monster inside. But now I realize, all that my running does is hurt others, that by abandoning them I hurt them worse than Hulk ever could. And ironically, it took Hulk to help me realize that. But I'm no longer afraid. Now I know where I belong. I belong here, helping these ponies.' The silver mare nodded, seemingly happy with his answer.
"Why silver pony care so much?" Hulk asked her with a growl. She looked up at the moon that was almost upon them, remaining quiet for a minute.
'I have watched as monsters have torn the lives of ponies apart,' she said softly. 'And I have watched as the only ones who could stop them fell to their wrath. So, I go wherever I can to try and help. And when I cannot help, I bring a champion to the land to defend it and its inhabitants. I thought I had chosen poorly with you, but it seems that once again I was proven wrong.'
"Don't thank Hulk yet," Hulk muttered as the moon began to enter the atmosphere, fire spreading all along its face as it screamed down towards them. "Hulk still have to stop moon."
'Even if you fail, thank you for taking care of them,' she whispered as she sat down, concentrating with all her power. 'I will keep the planet from being torn apart, but you have to stop the moon.' As she said this, tendrils of silver energy shot off in every direction, wrapping themselves around the planet. Hulk noticed that as she did this, her body became so transparent that he could barely see her, but he couldn't focus on that at the moment. Hulk ignored her and let everything else leave his mind, focusing on his rage, trying to make himself as strong as possible before the moon hit. And for the first time in his life, he had trouble summoning the source of his strength. Normally he could draw it from the way he was treated or how others attacked him, but now...this land had accepted both him and Banner with open hooves and was willing to try and understand him. They did not hate him and none of them wanted to hurt him. So Hulk had to try and draw upon as much rage as he could before Banner got his attention.
'Hulk. It's time.' Hulk looked up to see that the moon had completely covered the land, casting all in darkness. He could feel the earth begin to shake under his feet as the sheer force of the moon approaching caused the land to shiver in fear. Hulk flexed his muscles one last time before lifting his hands up to catch the satellite. Before it hit, he did something that he had never done before. He made a promise.
"Hulk promise that he live. Hulk promise that he return," Hulk said with a small grin. "Pinkie promise." And then the moon reached him and it was beyond anything he could have imagined. Hulk roared in pain as the moon came crashing down onto his arms, all of its weight and force being transfered into him. The ground beneath him was obliterated as the falling satellite met the Monster of Rage and the entirety of the planet shook from the collison. All of Hulk's muscles screamed out as the moon pressed down on him with a force that even he wasn't ready for. Hulk's knees almost gave out as he tried in vain to hold the moon up, but felt it start to push him back with each passing second. Hulk struggled with all his might to push it up, but the combination of the previous fights and lack of rage were taking their toll on him. Hulk closed his eyes and gritted his teeth as the ground constantly gave way beneath him, causing him to buckle more than once.
"Hulk...stop...moon," he said, trying to motivate himself to be stronger, but he could feel his consciousness begin to slip away. Hulk's ankle was the first bone to break, the sudden snap caused him to fall to one knee. And although he couldn't see it, his fall had caused cataclysms on many different continents. The griffon kingdom was flooded by tsunamis and the dragon land was tearing itself apart with massive earthquakes. Banner continued to scream at Hulk from inside his mind, but Hulk could no longer hear it. Hulk's arms had finally been pushed down far enough to the point where the moon now rested on his shoulders, and the added weight nearly caused him to face-plant; the only reason he didn't was because he stuck his foot out at the last second to catch himself. His breath was next to go as his lungs almost gave out, and the lack of oxygen was draining whatever strength he had left. A minute had barely passed, out of the five he needed, but already he was about to drop over.
"Hulk sorry," he whispered to himself with the remaining breath he had. "Hulk sorry that Hulk wasn't strong enough, that ponies lose home. Hulk sorry, 'cause Hulk know how it feels." Hulk then began to allow the moon to fall on top of him, thinking that if he couldn't stop it, then at least he could go with the ponies. Unknown to him as well, the ponies over in Canterlot were watching the moon strike the desert and were suffering from their own problems.
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN THE MAGIC WON'T WORK?!" Pinkie screamed at the two princesses, who were doing everything in their power to get their magic to work.
"It is as we said, no matter how hard we try our magic will not flow," Luna snapped back, trying once again in vain to use her magic. Celestia looked over at the broken body of Nightmare Moon, noticing that she was silently laughing to herself.
"What is so funny?" she asked her with a glare.
"Did you honestly think that I would allow you to use your magic even if there was the smallest chance of you stopping me?" she asked with a grin before almost coughing up her lungs. "There is no way for you to use your magic now. Equestria will be consumed by the moon." She continued to laugh as Celestia glared at her before walking back over to the other ponies.
"She has done something to our magic," Celestia said sadly, looking off into the distance at the sight of the moon crushing their planet. She could hear the ponies in he city panicking as the ground shook with extreme force, her unicorn squadron doing all they could to keep the city from falling. She joined the others as they all stared off into the distance, watching as the moon sunk lower and lower into the ground.
"Is Hulk alright?" Pinkie asked her with worry in her voice. Celestia shook her head with uncertainty.
"I know not. We can only hope." As the ponies looked off towards where the moon was tearing into the ground, Hulk was barely holding his own. The moon was completely crushing him now, having forced him down to his hands and knees while it pressed down on his back. Hulk's body had broken in several places and his strength was fading fast, telling him that it was only a matter of time.
'Giving up already?' Hulk barely had the strength to turn his head, but he managed to do so just enough so that he could see the silver mare standing next to him. 'I thought that you were supposed to be the strongest there is?'
"Hulk...is strongest," Hulk spat back before roaring in pain as the moon continued to press down on him.
'I don't believe you,' she said, looking up at the moon and holding out one hoof to touch it. 'How long it has been since I have seen the moon in the sky...well, seen the moon. If it wasn't about to crush all of this land it would have been perfect.' Hulk didn't respond, instead he braced himself as the moon pressed down on his back. The silver mare looked at the Hulk with a frown, as he had been her hope for this land. But in his current state, it was likely that none of these ponies would survive, let alone the Hulk. So she did what no sane person or pony would ever do. She began to taunt the Hulk.
'And here I thought you called yourself the strongest because it was true, not to hide the fact that you are so weak," she spat with a sneer. 'The great and powerful Hulk can't even lift a bit of rock without whining about it. How I managed to convince myself that you could actually help all these ponies was beyond me.' She smiled to herself as Hulk roared in rage at her and began to push up...then his knees buckled and he fell back down to all fours, green blood dripping from his mouth. His rage wasn't enough--the one thing that powered the Hulk more than anything and it was failing him. How weakened had he become? She looked around at the massive crater that had been caused by the moon pushing down on the Hulk, deciding that there was only one chance left. She would have to appeal through those he cared about.
'Hulk, listen to me right now,' she said in her most seroius tone, speaking in his mind as well as aloud to him so that she was sure that he'd hear her. 'If you don't stop the moon right now, all life in Equestria will be wiped out. All of Ponyville, all of the ponies...even the baby ponies. The princesses can do nothing, their magic has been blocked. You are their only hope. You have to be stronger.' She thought that he hadn't heard her, that he was too far gone by the way that he hung his head. But then he whispered something that she barely heard.
"Even Pinkie?"
'Yes, even Pinkie.' Then Hulk's body began to tremble as he began to get mad; not mad at the fact that he would fail, but that those little ponies that he had held in his hand would be gone as well without a chance to live their lives That the only friend he had ever known--who hadn't truly hurt him--would die. That he wasn't strong enough. And much to the surprise of the silver mare, Hulk began to get up. He started by slamming one fist into the moon that sent cracks all along its front. Then, he plowed his other fist into it and raised up a bit, allowing him to get to his feet. Hulk stood up again to his full height, holding the moon on his shoulders much like Atlas had done in the stories. And then he began to yell.
"Puny moon think that it can smash Hulk? Think it can hurt Hulk's friends?" He roared at the moon as he placed his hands on it and began to push. Her eyes widened as she saw that he was not only pushing the moon back, but was doing so with ease. "If moon land, then it smash Hulk 's friends and baby ponies. And if ponies get smashed, then Hulk get angry. And the angrier Hulk get, the stronger Hulk get!" With each one of his words, the Hulk began to push up on the moon with more and more power, until he was lifting the whole moon over his head. "And Hulk continue to get angry and stronger until..." Hulk began as he drew his fist back. "HULK BECOME THE STRONGEST THERE IS!" he roared as he slammed his fist into the moon for all he was worth, the impact of his green fist into the side of it launched the moon back a bit. The silver mare looked upon Hulk with amazement, seeing that his entire body was giving off a green glow as his power reached a stage to which he rarely went. Some would call it 'World Breaker Hulk', but this time he was using it to save the world. Before the moon could start to come back down, Hulk leapt up into the air and punched it again, sending it even farther back. As Hulk landed on the ground after his last punch, he began to focus all of his strength into his legs, causing the entire planet to shake under his power. And when Hulk let loose a cry to the heavens that tore them apart, he then launched himself into the air at the moon, aiming both of his feet towards it.
"HULK SMASH MOOOOOONNN!" he screamed as he drove both feet into it, his power such that no other could match, and began to drive the moon back, breaking it free of the planet's gravity and pushing it back towards space. Hulk continued to slam his fist into it all the way up, roaring the entire time as he was fueled by the thoughts of the ponies dying. Once the moon had reached the upper atmosphere, Hulk brought his fist back one more time and slammed it into the moon for all he was worth, launching the moon away far from the planet's gravity, filled with so much momentum that only after it had gone far beyond the planet did it finally crack in half. Hulk looked upon what he did with raised eyebrows.
"Hulk owe...Luna...new moon." Then Hulk started to fall back towards he planet. His strength had been completely exhausted and even though he was in the atmosphere, he slowly began to change back.
'Hulk, you can't change back!' Banner yelled in his head. 'If you do we're both dead!'
"Hulk don't care. Ponies safe and Hulk tired," Hulk said in a mumble, closing his eyes as they continued to fall. Banner had to think fast. As fine as he was with the Hulk switching back, he didn't want it to happen right now. So he figured that he had to make Hulk angry one last time.
'It's okay, Hulk. I understand that you can't be as strong as Thor.'
"WHAT PUNY BANNER SAY?!" Hulk screamed at him as they plummeted back down to Equestria.
---=-=---
The ponies reached the desert a few hours later, amazed by the fact that not only was their planet still around, but also that the Hulk had apparently cracked the moon in half--something that Luna wasn't happy about, but she told them that once her magic returned she could repair it. Celestia and Luna had used the Elements of Harmony to trap Chrysalis, Discord and Nightmare Moon in stone until they had decided what to do with them, wanting to find Hulk as soon as possible. They had taken the princesses' personal airship in hopes that its added speed would lead them to the Hulk faster. Not that it wasn't hard to find where he was, they just had to look for the gouge in the planet. Once they had found it, they landed the ship near the center, amazed at how far down the moon had dug into the earth. While most of the ponies gaped in awe at all of the destruction, Pinkie left the ship in a dead sprint, heading right for the Hulk. She found him laying on his back, starring up at the sky.
"HULK!" she screamed as she ran over to him. She let out a sigh of relief that she had been holding in when she saw his eyes look over at her. She sat down next to him and looked over his body, glad to see that he didn't seem hurt. "Thank Celestia that you're alright. Did...you really break the moon in two?"
"Pink pony sound like she's surprised," Hulk said weakly, not even having the strength to sit up. "Hulk is strongest there is."
"Yeah, you are...wait a minute, you just called me 'pink pony', not 'puny pony'!" she said excitedly with a massive smile.
"Hulk have no idea what puny pony talking about," Hulk said quickly before letting out a yawn."Are all ponies safe?"
"Yeah, all the ponies are safe. You did it."
"Good, cause Hulk tired...Hulk..." Hulk closed his eyes as his body began to shrink back down, changing back into Dr. Banner within a few seconds. He yawned as well and sat up, looking over at the other ponies that had just joined them. "Hey there, everypony? That was one heck of a day, huh?"
"Just glad to see that you're alright," Twilight said with a smile as she offered Banner a hoof to help him up, a hoof that he gladly accepted. He staggered a bit as he stood up and leaned on AJ for support. "That was certainly crazy. I honestly didn't know if the Hulk would be able to stop the moon in time."
"Neither did I, in all honesty," he replied with a small sigh. "I'm just glad that he did. Can we head back home now? I need to change my clothes." Twilight smiled in response and all the ponies helped him to the ship, with one of them ready for a long day of relaxation.
---=-=---
The next three days passed in the blink of an eye. Banner had come back to Ponyville to receive a hero's welcome, and a massive party (put together by Pinkie of course) had been thrown for him. Tony had also come back after the events of the attack, giving Banner his offer one last time.
"Are you sure that you want to stay?" Tony had asked Banner as they had watched the other ponies party.
"They need me here, you'd be surprised how far behind their tech is," he replied with a smile as he watched Pinkie dance with the foals. "Besides, I feel happy here, like I'm finally starting to do good for the first time. Also, Hulk really likes it here and he's generally the one who makes these calls."
"I'm glad that you finally found a place where you feel like you belong," Tony said with a smile. "Still, it's going to be a bit scary knowing that our big green friend won't be there to help out the Avengers. And Banner....about what's happened between us in the past..."
"It's in the past, Tony, and that's where it should stay," Banner said as he leaned back in his chair, completely calm. Tony looked at him and smirked.
"Yeah, I suppose so. I can still take apart the Hulk Buster suits to show you that I believe Hulk has changed, if you want?"
'No. Keep them. Hulk like smashing tin cans.'
"Hulk says you can keep them, but only so he can smash them."
"Sounds fine by me, but I'll have no use for them since you won't be around."
"You can still call whenever you need us," Banner replied. The ponies had started a drinking game and Tony watched with a frown as they drank.
"That's not how you down shots. Let me show you how it's done," he had said as he walked over to the ponies. Banner sighed and opened his eyes to leave the memory, looking down at the paper that Twilight had placed in front of him. She wanted him to write a letter to Celestia about what he had learned in the time he had been here. So as he picked up the pen, he began to write his thoughts:
'Dear Celestia,
As much as I hate to admit it, I have learned a lot about something I knew very little about back on my world, despite how smart I thought was. I learned that I can't always be afraid of hurting others and staying away, because sometimes that causes just as much pain as staying away. Sometimes I need to learn to help despite being afraid.
And Hulk learned that sometimes he has to be willing to trust others despite things that have happened in the past. That he can be strong enough to try and make friends even when he's afraid that they'll hurt him. And that being strong means being able to stand up for others even if you don't care for them.
Your two crazy humans,
Banner and Hulk'
Banner looked down at the letter with a nod, thinking that the princess would like it. He stood up and signaled to Twilight that he was done, and she came down from the top floor to walk with him to the post office. They walked down the street in silence, one of them happy that it wasn't raining while the other was looking around at the ponies that had come to accept him and his other half. Banner had become an inspiration at the hospital; most of the other doctors would bug him for days trying to learn his secrets. Hulk had become a protector of sorts, helping out whenever the ponies were in danger. He said that he didn't want to be out all the time so that the ponies wouldn't bug him. Banner figured that he had earned that right after all they had gone through together.
"I want to thank you again," Twilight said, causing Banner to roll his eyes.
"Twilight, I appreciate it, but this is the fifth time you've thanked me. You can stop."
"No I can't. First, you helped save the ponies of my town; then you unleashed a monster...hero that protected us from a god of chaos, the Queen of the Changelings, Nightmare Moon and the freaking moon! You deserve a lot more than thanks, you deserve-!"
'Tell pony to be quiet or Hulk smash,' Hulk growled from the back of Banner's mind. Twilight shut up when Banner relayed the message to her as the two reached the post office. A grey pony with weird eyes came out to grab the letter before flying off with it into a wall. "Well that was weird," he muttered, coming to a stop outside the post office when he noticed that Pinkie was standing there.
"What's up?" he asked her.
"Hey Banner. Um, there seems to be a problem over at the Diamond Dog holes and they seem to be harassing the ponies there. I don't know if Hulky wants to get involved or...?"
"I'll ask. Hulky, you want to go fight some dogs."
'Hulk no fight puny dogs,' Hulk replied as Banner felt himself begin to transform. The other ponies backed away as the transformation completed, leaving a giant green monster standing in front of them.
"Hulk smash them."
--------------------------
A familar scene played before her eyes. Two armies colliding on the hillside, screams of both those fighting and those dying floated through the air as the sounds of thunder rang in her ears. She could still smell the blood that had soaked the dead ground and the wails of the dying could be heard in the wind, where the greatest force of protection fell to the all-consuming lightning. With a small shake of her head, she walked back inside the broken old tower, walking over to a number of pedestals that sat in the center. Five of them were devoid of anything, but the sixth one held a golden crown with a lighting bolt in its center. But as she suspected, the one next to it lit up as a mini-gamma bomb went off. When she looked at the pedestal again, she found that a green arm band sat there, a glowing radioactive symbol in the center of it.
'Another has been claimed and by one whom I would have never suspected. How do I constantly get proven wrong?' She muttered to herself as she turned to look out the window. 'But I must hurry to find the others. With Teth now aware of my plans, it is only a matter of time before I am found. It is fortunate that he went after the Kryptonian instead of the Hulk. But in order for the other champions to be crowned, I must take a more active role. Sister, help me, for I do not know if this will work.' The silver mare vanished into thin air as she said this, leaving the two glowing artifacts alone in the empty room.