Chapter 8-Sulk
His name was Doctor Robert Bruce Banner and he was a monster.
Through and through.
Inside and out.
Heart and soul.
It didn’t matter what he had done for the preservation of humanity. All he had done. All he had lost. All who had suffered because of him and his fatal mistakes. He was to blame, no one else. To that day, to the time where the wind flowed past his face and the earth came quickly and so suddenly, to now where he lay in complete and utter blackness, he only had one, simple regret.
And that was to have listened to Ross.
Thanks to him, Banner lived in a world of pain and agony, a world where he could not feel it but others shall. A world that was out of his control, and when he lost that control innocent lives suffered for it. If he had never listened to Ross none of it would have ever happened. If he had never listened to Ross he would still be in the embrace of…
Betty…
The memory clouded his thoughts, ripping apart all aspects of what was actually transpiring before him. He cared not. He cared only for the memories and the miniscule moments of warmth they brought forth.
He could feel her soft breath against his neck, the same breath that would transform into the warmth he felt as of now. He would lay her against the bed, his hands exploring nearly every inch of her body as their lips joined together as one. Her shirt so loose, his already discarded, and their bodies fusing closer and closer—
Beep, beep! Beep, beep! Beep, beep!
“Wait, wait!”
“It’s okay.”
“I’m sorry…”
“…It’s so mysterious listening inside of you.”
“Look at me…”
“…Hey…quick!”
“Whoa! What is it?”
“You think…still alive?”
He was drawn to her gaze, their bodies lying together, eyes staring into one another. Banner longed just to be with her. After losing her once, he nearly lost himself in that fall, lost in that darkness. Not anymore. Not while she held him so tight.
“That pain didn’t last… Not knowing was so much worse. I looked for your face everywhere.”
“…Celestia…this thing’s…breathing!”
“I never stopped.”
“What do you want to do? Just leave…here?”
“No…heard it whispering. Must be intelligent. Pony…Hospital isn’t too far away!”
“You carry it…”
The rest of the memory was a blur. The coolness of the earth against his back disappeared, and strange, new warmth shielded his nakedness. Banner couldn’t even keep his eyes open long enough to make sense of the world around him, but sight wasn’t needed to tell the tale, neither was feeling. All he needed was his hearing and his thoughts.
And breathing. Breathing was always important.
The dimly-lit household stuck in the far depths of Calcutta gave little light to Banner, a sigh escaping his jaw once the small child escaped through a windowsill in the far room. A voice approached from behind, earning the man’s interests.
“You know, for a man who’s supposed to be avoiding stress you picked a hell of a place to settle.”
“Avoiding stress isn’t the secret.”
“…forest is crazy thick.”
“Keep going. The hospital’s…ahead.”
“You think they’ll know what it is?”
“…Probably not. But…talked earlier. So they have to save…see what it is!”
“Nick Fury seems to trust you. But now we need you to come in.”
“What if I say no?”
“I’ll persuade you.”
“I see it ahead!”
“…They won’t believe it.”
“And what if the…”
His head jerked suddenly back and forth, earning a heavy groan from Banner as his eyelids failed to open fully once more. He caught glimpses of white strewn across the ground, numerous others displayed across the walls and the furniture of the establishment he had yet to fully examine. There were gasps, some screams, all too familiar.
Voices came back. His hearing wasn’t too well. His world shook violently, almost tipping him over to the edge of darkness. He didn’t need that. Not now. Not while he was still breathing.
“Oh, my stars! What in Equestria is…?”
“It’s bleeding bad…”
The accusing stares of his so-called “team members” bore into Banner’s face until it pierced his skin. But it mattered not. He about had enough of them, treating him like a beast, unlike the man he sought out to become. Here, they saw him as a weapon to use in their advantage. Nothing else.
“I got low. I didn’t see an end so I put a bullet in my mouth and the Other Guy spit it out.”
“We need a medical team, stat!”
“I was good, until you dragged me back into this freak show, and put everyone here at risk.”
His mind blurred, visions of green flashing by and never stopping. They halted, only for a brief moment, and then to be awakened once more. Once more the beast broke through. Once more the beast came together. But this time it was his to command, his to control. His anger to be his own. And damn he liked that.
“I want to know why we’re taking in this creature when there are numerous…injured from the meteor strike earlier this day?!”
“The two that picked it up in the forest mentioned that it was whispering actual words.”
“How can you even—?”
“Hel… Help the…them…”
Silence. For the first moment since he blacked out, Banner had complete and utter silence. It felt good for the full four seconds it lasted. He spoke, and the next moment he was completely out of breath, his body feeling very weak. The other sounds that came in were muffled by numerous voices, the clattering of supposed medical equipment, and his body landing once more onto something soft.
“Get me some… It’s losing a lot of blood.”
“Right away, Doctor!”
His skin was pierced, earning a few grunts and deeper breathing from Banner. More voices, many worried, many far too innocent for what was sure to come if he didn’t wake up and get away as far as possible. His anger, while controlled at most times, still was part of the human feeling, and that couldn’t be controlled, not even by his standards.
That’s why he always had her…
“Hey, Big Guy…”
He spun around almost instantly, the green in his vision clouding around the female approaching across the winter landscape. She didn’t seem afraid, the way her eyes stared eagerly into his own, not a hint of fear. Instead she spoke out once again, the smoke building around her.
“Sun’s getting real low…”
Banner didn’t know why, he didn’t know a lot of things once he let the Other Guy take over, but for the faintest of moments he relaxed, approaching her with the steadiness of a child approaching their mother for the first time, unsure of the situation but drawn to it. She held out her hand, her fingers awaiting his own.
And then she dropped it, her palm falling flat and Banner reluctantly doing the same, resting his green fist onto her. With that, she continued on her own, offering the faintest of smiles when he looked at her. And then it was done.
He managed to see sense and reason again, the green falling back to hide within his body, waiting eagerly for its return.
It wanted it. Now.
“I’ve never seen anything like it! Its body, its blood, its…everything!”
“Stabilizing… We can assume it is a he, Doctor. And…there!”
Banner shook his head from side-to-side, eyes dancing across his struggling eyelids. The white light above him was strong, so strong as to where he was blinded and could not see straight. He grinded his teeth together, heart rate increasing by the second. He gripped the edge of the bed, ripping the blanket with his fingernails.
“How long before you trust me?”
“Doctor, his heart rate just went from 103 to 145!”
“That’s impossible!”
“It’s not you I don’t trust.”
“145 to 167!”
“Keep him stabilized! I can see him shaking from here!”
“I adore you.”
And that’s when Banner’s mind blacked out. She had just kissed him, pushing him further backwards until she stopped. He let the feeling of her lips against his consume him, his mind falling into a blank slate. The feeling was indescribable, felt only one other time when he was wrapped within the arms of his beloved Betty.
He knew the complications. He knew why they couldn’t be together. She did too. But for that moment in time neither of them seemed to care. All that mattered, all that was really important to them both was the connection they shared, even if was just brief. Just brief. But it was all the time he needed to realize that she didn’t care what happened. All she needed was him. And all he needed was her.
And then the world fell…
“188!”
He could see it now. Visions flashed violently and became even more blinding than the light above him. Banner thrashed against the bed, the wires connected to him dancing as did the rhythms of his body. Several warm bodies pressed against him, containing his violent outburst, but it was no use. There was no use hiding away the monster.
The world fell apart, a black vortex sucking everything into its unforgiving maw. Banner, with his unending strength, was not strong enough. He was not strong enough, and he and the others he failed to protect suffered for it. Just like before. Just like all the other times.
Then he was falling, limbs flying about aimlessly while he roared and screamed and bellowed in hatred and agony and all sorts of pain. He could see her, screaming as she fell along with so many others, along with so many blue lights that tipped the sides of mountains and crashed in the forests below. It was her.
He lost Betty already. He sure as hell wouldn’t lose her.
“Natasha…” Banner exhaled, his chest rising and falling at a brisk, uncontrolled pace.
Monster…
“196!”
They’re dead…all of them. What are you to do now…but to cause even more death?
Banner reached with all his might and with all his strength. He approached quickly, wrapping her quivering and tiny form close to his chest as he made his impact with the earth. Trees shattered, rocks broke in two, dirt and ground exploded from his impact, but she was not harmed. Even with his great power, even with all that he had, he let her get away.
He let go and saw her tumble away.
She’s dead…
…No.
She’s dead…because you weren’t strong enough to save her.
No…NO!
“Doctor, its surpassed 200! Its surpassed 2—GAK!”
Everypony in the room froze. Nurse Redheart, the unfortunate mare who was standing right by the creature’s bedside was now shaking in utter terror at its surprising strength. Its fingers coiled around her throat, cutting off all oxygen to allow the Earth pony to think clearly. All she could see, all she could manage through teary vision was the creature’s eyes.
And how they were suddenly filled with green.
The doctors made no move, made no attempt to try and help her. They were all too surprised. Maybe not surprised. Terrified. Terrified seemed to be the right word. And even in their terrified state, even with the mare rising above the hospital floor and making short gasps for air, they heard it. They heard the creature speak fully and clearly.
It said, “Run…”
“…Run away…”
Banner tossed Nurse Redheart to the floor where two other nurses were quick to arrive to her aid. They helped her up, all three bringing their attention back to the bed and where the creature lay upon it. They screamed. They saw it for what it truly was, and they screamed. Everypony screamed.
And they ran just like he told them to.
Ponyville Hospital transformed from a field of peace and carefulness to a warzone filled with the squeals and cries of the innocent running from the beast. Doctors ran to their patients, closing and locking all the doors so the beast couldn’t break in and find the weak ones. It did. It broke in and found them. It flung chairs and tables and beds all across the hospital halls, tearing apart the walls and ripping right through the floor to the next level.
And then it broke apart through the final wall of the hospital, finally meeting sunlight.
It landed feet first, slamming its fists to the earth and stumbling forward. It halted in its actions, back slumped and eyes forward, breath heavy and teeth cringed. From where it stood in the daylight bliss, a town sat in the distance, a town no doubt filled with innocent lives.
The Hulk didn’t care. It reared back, eyeing the remains of the hospital and screaming. He just simply didn’t care. But Bruce Banner did, and he screamed from within, trapped and alone.
Hulk shot forward, glaring at the town and swiping his palms forward. His palms morphed into fists, his deadly stare focusing on the area of his rage. He charged forward, roaring his war cry for the entire world to hear. To fear. To ready themselves.
To die.
“RAAAAAWWWRRRRAAA!!!”
And from where he once previously stood, no one could’ve seen the tears in his eyes. No one.
Stats
Page generated in 0.045 seconds
Total duration
1,043 users online
2,206,477 hits today, 2,561,572 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
...... why you do this dude? Why you give us feels?
6435375 It's a way of life my comrade. It's a way of life.
Congratulations on getting 40 likes.
img.memecdn.com/this-is-a-super-feel_o_1020684.jpg
EVERYPONY FOR THEMSELVES!
Poor Hulk. :(
6435375 Gives me the rush I need. It's like heroin.
6435433 Thanks! I hope you enjoy it!
6435969 Thanks a ton.
6436213 Secure the doormats! Women and children last!
6436797
6437211 But it makes me feel awful.
6437221 Me too. The heroin, I mean.
No, Hulk! Don't take your anger out on Ponyville! Maybe on Diamond Tiara but not on Ponyville!
Holy throne....
6891910 holy game of thrones bad
6435375 cdn.meme.am/instances/500x/66194717.jpg my feels fuck
Poor Bruce. The guy really has no self esteem at all. Does Ponyville have anti-Hulk defense systems?
Well there goes making a good impression for he ponies for Bruce.
7384136
Twilight (or some other Unicorn) picking him up with telekinesis? That’s... pretty much it, I guess.
For those who have pointed out how some people have an issue with temper, they pale in comparison to Bruce Banner, who has been through so much since that fateful day he was cursed to balance between himself and the monster he longed to suppress. But when that pressure starts to kick in, when all his doubts and fears of what his actions come into play, and when the anger just wants to escape, so to do we see The Hulk emerge. It's a shame that the ponies who take him in with the intent of nursing him to health are left with this impression on Bruce who did not mean for this to happen... Yet it did. Hence the reason why at the end of that one Avengers movie, The Hulk chose to send itself into exile in the first place. As if the arrival of these Sentries aren't enough, now Equestria has a raging green humanoid beast roaming about destroying anything in it's path.
Where's Black Widow when you need her?
8902720
Thunderclap. Twilight is knocked down, concentration broken - no suspension.
Poor Banner and poor Hulk. With his current state of mind I wonder if he’ll even realize his teammates aren’t dead when they show up to stop him.
I always wondered what happened to Betty in the MCU. It seems things didn’t work out between her and Bruce, that’s why he got with Black Widow, but I wish they explained it better.
Good advice. Run for your freakin lives!