Driven Mad (Book 1 in the MAD Series)(An Avengers Fan Fiction)

Bruce Banner

Bruce Banner clenched his fists and grinded his teeth, banging his arms against the floor and hunching his back. The Other Guy was coming out, and Bruce had no control over him anymore. The Hulk was going to come out and destroy everything. Bruce could feel his heart racing and his blood pressure rising. It hurt. Or at least, Bruce thought it hurt. It seemed like he was hurting, but as the Other Guy quickly took over, he wasn’t sure anymore. He fought against it though, despite his instinct to let it go, let the Other Guy run his course. He wasn’t going to let the Other Guy out to destroy everything in his path. He was a monster. Bruce was fighting against him, not willing to let him out, not there. But this seemed like it was a battle he was going to lose.

“It’s okay. You are going to walk away…” said Natasha Romanoff. Bruce tried to listen to her, but the Other Guy was coming too fast. He was going to come out and destroy everything he could get his hands on. Flashes of the last time this had happened came to mind. Betty Ross flashed into his mind. He missed her. That was all he could think. The Other Guy had taken over the rest of his mind by then. Natasha kept talking, trying to calm him down, trying to lower his heart rate, which wasn’t going to come down any time soon. “Bruce… I swear on my life…” she started.

“Your life!!” he moaned. But he hadn’t wanted to say that. That was mean. It was the Other Guy. He stood up on his knees as he began to transform into the Other Guy. He saw flashes of green as his shirt tore to shreds. He hated that color. He saw his fists turning green and growing enormously, just like the rest of him. He hated himself for letting this happen again. He’d gone so long without this happening, and then an explosion from Loki’s army set him off. The Other Guy stood up and smashed something. No, that time it was Bruce. He was so angry with himself… He looked at Natasha. She looked almost relieved… Then he looked away and everything went black.

Bruce opened his eyes and bolted straight up. His dark hair was matted to his forehead, and sweat poured down his face. His bare chest was drenched as well. He picked up as blanket that he’d kicked into the floor and attempted to wipe his face, but it was drenched too. He slowed his breathing and his heart rate, looking at his bracelet that told him his pulse rate. 198. He’d come close, really close. He calmed himself down, letting his pulse gradually lower. “Sorry, Big Guy. Not tonight.” He muttered to himself, directed to the Hulk.

Bruce stood up and walked across his tiny hut. He entered the bathroom, which was really just a room with a tiny sink, a toilet, and a tiny step-in shower. He turned on the faucet, cupped his hands and let the water pour into them, and splashed his face with the cool water. He looked at himself in the mirror. He had a green tint to his skin, but it was slowly fading back to normal. His hair was drenched with sweat and it was matted to his head. His eyes were a bright green color still, but they’d go back to brown in a few minutes.

He heard a knock on the door. Who could want him at this hour of the morning? He quickly shook some sweat off of his head and attempted to fluff his wet brown hair a little. He dashed into his little bedroom and pulled on a clean t-shirt. Then he rushed to the door. He pulled it open and, before he could even see who it was, he felt two arms being thrown around his wet neck. He automatically hugged back, even though he had no idea who it was. All he could see was a thin body and long brown hair, and that was all.

She pulled away, and then he saw who it was. “Betty?” he said, not sure if he was still dreaming. “Oh my gosh, did you just have an episode?” she asked, touching the green parts of his skin. “Uh, yeah, kind of. It was close, but I’m okay… What are you doing here?” he asked.

“I’ve missed you so much. I couldn’t stay away. What happened?”

“I just had a bad dream. Why are you here?”