Chapter 22: Hulk smash

Everywhere he looked he saw green. At least, he hoped he was seeing green as it was getting dark. The thick trees around his makeshift camp shielded him from enemy eyes. It also has to be said the trees kept him from keeping an eye on his enemies.

Not that he was in a hurry to keep an eye on his enemies.

As far away from gun-wielding soldiers the better he ought to be.

Not that the military was going to leave him alone with his alter ego in play and all the people he killed in his escapade from the desert base.

Two times he transformed to that monstrous form in the last few months. One was at the military base while the other was when the military tried to capture him near Livingston lake. It didn't end well for the soldiers in the desert and it certainly didn't end well for them near the lake.

The local news he managed to glean from a nearby town showed huge cranes lifting out two choppers from the lake. He cringed when he saw the smashed choppers and military vehicles on TV. The news commentators already have a pet name for his alter ego.

Hulk they called him. A nice name all things considered. One that he easily adopted so as to make a distinction between the two egos in his body.

It didn't help that they called him an escaped terrorist. He was not a terrorist. Hulk was the terrorist!

Bruce would have loved to have a one on one talk with General Ross on how that came to be but he was not suicidal. The fact that he escaped capture till now was due to sheer luck. The military has so far failed to nick him with a strong sedative. They always came in with weapons hot which triggered his Hulk transformation. And once he was in Hulk mode he was invulnerable to conventional weaponry.

Does that mean he felt tremendous gratitude for his green alter-ego?

No!

As if!

How could he feel gratitude towards Hulk when it was Hulk that gotten him into this mess?

Bruce was frankly flabbergasted about how this whole madness even took place. He should have died when he tried to save his colleague Harper from the malfunctioning Gammasphere. He remembered clearly trying his best to shut the device down but it didn't work. Somehow, the failsafe he built into the Gammasphere was tampered with and he could not restore the safety measures manually in the lab. He then remembered he decided to shield Harper from the worst of radiations by posing himself as a shield.

Technically it was not going to be much as Gamma radiations could not be shielded by organic matter. He knew full well he was going to die. His hope was Harper would survive somehow if he took the full brunt of the initial radiation.

Contrary to his hopes the Gammasphere somehow managed to let out some of the strongest radiation burst he has ever seen. There was no other way the whole University campus would have been afflicted with Gamma radiation.

By the time the Gammasphere let out its full radiation he had fallen unconscious. The next thing he knew he was waking up in a hospital bed surrounded by unbreakable glass panes and military-grade weaponry. Most importantly, he was under the care of Talbot, a long time rival of his in the research field.

Talbot had him tied up to the bed like a prisoner and began regaling the fiasco that went down in Culver in great detail. Apparently, the entire inhabitants of the University fell to radiation and were being treated in the base and the military was pinning it all on him. At least, that's what Talbot said and he had no reason to doubt the prick.

The strange thing was Bruce was the only one not showing any symptoms of radiation poisoning. So, the military was keeping him in observation and then Talbot began a long spiel about all the experiments he was about to do on Bruce as well as forcibly taking all their research data.

Bruce didn't know how but his heartbeat picked up speed like a supersonic missile. He felt rage like never before as he watched his life's work being washed down the drain by this entitled Peacock. He could hear the screaming of Talbot and the guy tried to keep him down under with a sedative but Bruce remembered breaking free. When he stood up he was far too taller and from then on his memory was sketchy at best.

He woke up in a cave somewhere in Texas and with his clothes all torn off sans some part of his pants which became far too large for him to wear. With no money and no clothes on his back, he had to resort to stealing and scavenging to survive on his own. He had tried to contact Betty and that's how he was chased by the military all the way to Livingston where another transformation was triggered by Ross's men.

It had taken Bruce a lot of effort to make his way to the Monkey Island. Not that he planned to be stuck on the island. More like he was forced to hide in the woods as staying near Cameron became difficult with patrolling police and other agencies on the lookout for him.

Bruce rubbed his hands and placed them near the small fire he prepared thanks to a stolen lighter and a bunch of dry wood he scoured from the woods. He pressed his warm palm to his chest and once again rubbed his hands before repeating the process.

Staring into the flames he considered his options. He had to somehow find a cure to his condition. Because of his present condition, he could not run too fast or even do anything that would keep his heartbeat high. Not to mention the clear danger that he posed to the rest of humanity. He could not allow himself to be captured either. If Ross manages to catch him then the US military might try to use him or replicate his condition to their soldiers. The last thing he wants was for his condition to be used as a weapon of mass destruction.

If the Hulk could be weaponised it'd be the greatest tragedy after the discovery of dynamite and nuclear weapons. Bruce could not allow that to happen. He seemed to obliterate the Hulk from his body at any cost. He could not allow a weapon of mass destruction to be birthed from his research. A single drop of tear fell from his eyes at the thought of how everything changed in the last few months. He was researching to find cures for cancer and other incurable diseases.

Bruce thought of how everything had changed. He was working in Berkeley on the use of Gamma radiation and its uses to enhance a serum that could combat infected cells. If the research was successful his method could have replaced Chemotherapy. It was then he and Betty were approached by Culver with increased funding for their research. He had his doubts but they were quite underfunded in Berkeley so they took the offer.

Now, Bruce was not so sure he should have agreed to move their research to Culver. Berkeley was far safer and perhaps this accident would not have happened at all. He worried about what happened to all the others. He worried for Harper and Betty. He worried for the lives of all the people he affected with his research.

Bruce rubbed his tear-stained eyes. Taking a deep breath he tried to calm himself. He would find Betty and ensure she was okay before he would flee the country. And then he would find a cure to his condition somehow.

Bruce didn't know how long but he stared into the fire for a long time thinking of all the choices he made in the past and what was waiting for him in the future. Somewhere along the way his eyes closed drifting to the realm of sleep.

Bruce woke up with a jerk hearing the sound of a chopper. He looked up as a chopper zoomed past his general location over the island. He immediately began to throw soil over the fire. The fire had gone out and only some smoke was visible but he hastily dumped sand over the burnt wood and made a run hoping no one saw him.

The chopper came back, this time with light trained on the woods.

Bruce felt his heartbeat picking up pace and he slowed down to make sure he was not going to transform into Hulk. Another chopper joined in on the search and this one came too close for his comfort.

Gas grenades began to be launched into the woods. Bruce ran with his hands covering his nose. More and more grenades began to fall into the woods. His skin began to burn as well as his eyes and nostrils.

Bruce let out a choked sob as he realized he was being hunted. Emotions surged forward in his mind thinking of the situation he found himself in. It was too much for someone who was wrongly accused of being a terrorist. He only tried to save his friend from death. He could never hurt a soul!

Bruce fell tripping over a branch with his eyes burning under the attack of the chemical gas. His ears picked up on his rising heartbeat but all he could do was close his eyes and pray for all the pain to be over.

When his eyes opened again they were green!

******

Cerion picked up on the activities of the military as he observed the radar on his scouter.

"It looks like we were a bit late, huh." he mused out loud as he used his X-ray vision to observe the events unveiling on the ground.

"Sir, shall I dispatch the space bridge to extract Dr Banner?" asked Optima

"No. The military has eyes on the good doctor. We need clear skies for extraction." said Cerion

Not a moment later his ears picked up on a roar full of rage.

"Optima keep the scouter high in the air and stay above the ocean."

"Yes sir."

Cerion slipped into a grey tactical suit and dropped into the open air by the opened hatch of the scouter. He let himself free fall into the sea down below all the while keeping his eyes trained on Hulk.

He floated in the seas with keeping his head above the water level. Meanwhile, Hulk was jumping around once again causing damage to the surroundings. The military was not helping matters with their constant firing of machine guns and shells concentrated on Hulk.

Cerion could not expose himself to the military and he gathered SHIELD was also silently watching the whole debacle.

"Cut off all satellite feed of this region." ordered Cerion, through the coms.

"Yes sir. All satellite communications disabled." responded Optima.

With that taken care of, he knew he only had a very brief window of opportunity.

Cerion pressed on a small panel on his forearm.

"Space bridge on stand by. Provide destination."

"Destination Koron."

Cerion felt the command getting accepted as a black disc on the back of his suit between his shoulder blades hum.

"Deploy EMP surge." Cerion ordered into the coms once he was sure Hulk was well past the visual range of the ground team deployed by the military.

The scouter high in the air released an EMP charge that fried all nearby electronics. Even the avionic systems of the choppers fried up and they began to fall down from the sky.

With the skies clear, Cerion rushed out of the sea flying high into the sky and began to quickly trail after Hulk. Even without his X-ray vision, he could have easily picked up on Hulk's travel plans. He only had to follow the trail of devastation left by Hulk. Homes were reduced to piles of wood and dust. Trees were uprooted and a slew of them was smashed into trucks, cars and homes of the people. A few gas stations were burning after a friendly visit by Hulk.

It was a total warzone down below and Cerion winced as the horrible screams of people poured into his ears. Many of them were fatally injured and he had no doubt most of them were going to die or are on the way to get permanently disabled. There was nothing he could do to help them in the short term without exposing himself.

So, he sped away catching up to Hulk who had thankfully slipped into less populated areas.

Just as Cerion came upon Hulk from behind he was about to release the space bridge but a giant green fist came his way.

It was way too quick but he managed to slip right under the punch and struck out with his knee. He underestimated the force behind his kick as Hulk was blasted away towards a round of small hills.

Cerion immediately rushed back towards the Hulk and once again he was surprised. Hulk managed to arrest his momentum and was waiting for him with a giant tree in his hand. Hulk swung with the giant tree forcing Cerion to duck once again quite easily but that was a feint.

His eyes widened when he was kicked into a slew of trees by Hulk. He didn't feel much pain but he was nonetheless a bit surprised by Hulk's strength and speed.

Arresting his motion he flew towards Hulk, who it'd seem, was expecting him. Hulk threw the tree straight at him like a spear.

Cerion flew under the tree and delivered a straight uppercut on Hulk's face. The force behind the blow let out a sound reminiscent of a clap of thunder. Shockwaves rippled out turning over the hard soil. Hulk shot out high into the air like a green bullet.

He chased after the Hulk to place the space bridge. Just as he was about to take out the control disc from his suit Hulk reacted. Before he could form a counter Hulk smashed him with two giant green arms.

He barely had time to blink before he plummeted towards the ground at full speed.

He smashed through the roof of a wooden house kicking up dust and soil on his landing. The entire house was nearly smashed with his arrival and he could see Hulk jumping straight towards him with his X-ray vision.

Cerion's eyes heated up with red laser beams blasting off from his eyes. The laser beams pushed back Hulk and he picked up the disc from his suit before throwing it towards Hulk. The disc punched through the air and he saw Hulk catching the disc with his hands.

Thankfully, the space bridge activated and swallowed Hulk whole in a cocoon of blue energy leaving no trace.

This should have calmed Cerion's worries but he felt like something was bothering him. Then his eyes widened in alarm and turned around at lightning speed. Facing him was a tall woman with long luscious blonde hair and the brightest blue eyes he ever saw. The woman was not all that concerned by her looks but it was those looks that made him concerned.

Standing before him was a woman in her pyjamas and most concerning of all the face of Angelina Jolie staring at him with morbid curiosity.

It took him a moment to escape the brain freeze he was experiencing.

"Umm…hi. Sorry about your home."