ANGRBODA ※ Tony Stark [1]

10 - PRIMAL

SHE RAN FOR what felt like an eternity. Strangely enough, any distance feels longer when you're moving in the dark. The equipment room spanned over the entire lowest ground of the Much of the floor was lined by pipelines and various conduits and she had tripped on them too many times to count. The rest of the area was filled with weaponry and S.H.I.E.L.D's private jets which looked like giant metal carcasses in the dim light.

Angrboda had taken the long way to the equipment room — the one that required her to go through the central bridge and then down a staircase — rather than simply jumping through the hole in the ground where Natasha and Bruce had fallen. This way, she had a better chance of taking the Hulk by surprise, if Bruce had indeed transformed.

She was worried for Natasha. Any second she wasted getting to her, was another second the Black Widow had to face the green beast alone. Not that Nat couldn't hold her own, of course. She was very impressive for a human, but regardless... Angrboda had watched footage of Bruce as the Hulk. She had never seen anything like it, not on Asgard nor Jötunheim.

She was there, sunk into reflection, her pace not faltering for a second when a thundering roar echoed over the entire equipment room. She froze dead in her tracks, feeling a shiver run down her spine. There was nothing human about this. It was bestial. Primal.

Her heart was beating hard in her chest as she picked up a pace and finally reached the place where the roar had come from. The Hulk stood in all his monstrous glory, leaning over Natasha's far smaller figure. She was backed against the wall, gushes of blood across her face. She looked absolutely petrified, expecting him to strike any second and finish her off.

Without taking time to think, Angrboda hurled herself forward, taking the Hulk by his side and knocking him to the ground. He quickly recovered and got back up, belting out another roar of rage.

"Bruce it's me! I don't want to hurt you... please, try to think!"

When she crossed his eyes, Angrboda almost expected Banner to recognise her, but his ferocious glare made it clear there was no chance of that happening. Bruce was in there, somewhere, but right now, the beast was taking the lead.

He got back up and tried to take a swing at her but Angrboda managed to dodge it swiftly. The violence of their altercation brought Natasha out of her trance. She evaluated the situation and pulled the handgun from her belt.

Considering bullets would feel like a bee's sting on the Hulk's thick skin, she knew it was no use to shoot at him directly. Even if it did affect him, hurting the monster meant hurting Bruce in the process and that was the last thing she wanted. Angrboda was clearly losing ground and she wouldn't be able to hold him off for long. Natasha had to do something.

Her gaze stopped on the large pipes above their heads and an idea quickly developed in her mind.

"Angie, move!" she screamed before firing several shots at the pipes.