The New Avenger: Taming The Beast

𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝟾: 𝙸𝚗𝚌𝚒𝚍𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝙾𝚗𝚎; 𝙿𝚊𝚛𝚝 𝟸

Bruce, now the Hulk, stands up completely—his transformation hitting its peak. I stare up at him, unable to move as I watch in total, complete shock.

This regular man. It's unreal to imagine he can become this.

"RUN, ARI! WHAT ARE YOU DOING? GET OUT OF THERE NOW!" I hear Cap yelling from outside. My focus doesn't dare move from Bruce as I slowly begin to back up.

"I'm going in." I hear Stark say from outside, pressing a button on his watch as his Ironman suit reveals itself, unfolding and wrapping itself all around his body until he's completely suited up.

Bruce stands still for a moment, taking in a deep breath as he growls under it quietly. He slowly turns his head, looking over at me as I'm now backed into the corner of the room. Stark bursts through the door, breaking the glass in the process which startles the hulk.

As soon as Stark breaks in, all chaos ensues. The hulk clenches his fists, raising his arms as he yells out in a rage—flexing his crazily enlarged muscles. I jump back, gasping as the loud yell almost bursts my eardrums.

Okay now, I'm afraid.

Stark shoots a few fireballs at him, only making it worse. Bruce begins to flail around, punching things and rushing after Stark. Everything in the lab begins to crash, break, bust, and shatter as he crushes everything in his path. Stark gets in a few punches, going at him again with his fireballs. Bruce hits the ceiling, which causes some of the debris to fall on top of me.

I quickly crouch, covering my head as I roll away from it—somehow managing to get out the door to Steve. Steve grabs onto me tightly, pulling me backward and away from the situation as we run down the hall to get more help.

"What the hell happened?" Steve asks, running beside me. I shake my head, "I don't know. I walked in and he was on the floor." I yell over all the commotion.

We rush into the main room, Steve grabs his shield and I grab a pistol. Everyone is rushing around, trying to figure out how to handle this. I think hard, stuffing the fear I have deep down inside me as I think up a plan. I look over at Nat who's now standing beside me. We need to get him to that safe room where he can't accidentally break or hurt anyone or anything else.

"Romanoff—lead him to the safe room!" Steve yells. She nods immediately, shouting for hulk to get his attention as I rush out of the room and toward the hulk cell. Bruce bursts out from the hall and launches himself into the main room, causing more damage—screaming ensues. People begin to shoot at him—which of course does nothing. The bullets bounce right off of him, causing more damage within the room. All chaos let's loose as everyone fights him, which only fuels his rage and makes him stronger.

"Bruce, just—just calm down!" I hear Steve yelling from behind me as I run as fast as I can further and further away to get to the safe room. The noise behind me gets quieter and quieter as I get further away from it. I rush down four flights of stairs, trying to catch my breath as I reach the bottom. Red lights flash all around me and the alarm system continues to screech. I reach the hulk cell, pressing the button on the outside of it to open it up. I quickly grab my gun, standing on the outside of the door—waiting for it. I feel something cold along with a sharp pain on my bottom lip, and I raise my hand to touch it. When I pull my hand away, my fingers are covered in blood. Must've gotten that from the falling debris. I didn't realize how badly I was hit because my adrenaline kicked in. I have a small gash on the top of my head, along with a bloody nose. I quickly brush it off. As time passes, I hear the noise nearing me. It gets close and closer, and louder and louder until the chaos finally reaches me. For a moment it feels like everything's going in slow motion. Nat runs down the hall, the hulk breaking everything in his path as he bursts through all of it. I stand idle, watching and waiting with my gun pointed straight at him. I don't want to shoot him. Us fighting him—it does nothing. It only makes things worse. He just needs a chance to calm down. My tactic, is to try that. And if it doesn't work, well...

I guess I'm not that far yet.

"Ari move!" Nat screams as she finally reaches me, sliding to the side as she tries to pull me with her while the hulk blindlessly heads toward the safe room in a crazy rage. I kick her arms from me, pressing the button to close the room door as I quickly back up into the huge, glass pod—Bruce rushing inside with me as the door locks behind him.

"NO!!!" Natasha screams as she looks up from the ground in horror. Her eyes widen in terror and blood runs down her face from the top of her head. I back into the wall, the hulk nearing me slowly as he growls—looking at me in anger as he realizes he's locked inside and I with him.

"Bruce? Are you there?" I say quietly, slowly dropping my gun as I bravely look up at him into his green eyes. The hulk is taken off guard by my softness, and perhaps he feels the same kind of connection as Bruce does with me.

"Shhh...calm down, okay? It's me. It's Agent Anson...it's Ari. I'm here to help you." I say softly, almost in a whisper as I stand in front of him fearlessly. He pauses, his eyes looking down into mine as he watches me carefully. He takes a step back, a small gasp escapes his lips as his eyes focus on me intently—almost as if he just came to a realization.

"Bruce?"

He continues to stare at me, his breathing slows as he looks at me with guilty, pleading eyes. He blinks a few times, shaking his head as he seems to calm down.

"You've gotta calm down, okay?" I say furthermore, continuing to use a soft and quiet voice.

Natasha stands up outside of the doorway, watching through the glass in shock as I'm able to calm him down. He doesn't dare try to hurt me, or even touch me. He doesn't even move closer to me, he keeps his safe distance. He backs into the glass, shaking his head as his entire body slowly begins to shrink. The dark green shade of skin gets lighter and lighter, more of Bruce's shade. He tries to walk forward as his eyes stay locked with mine, he breathes heavily and groans tiredly as he changes back to his human form. He falls into my arms and I crouch to the floor as I catch him. He sits on his knees, his sweaty and tired body relaxing into mine.

"Oh God...no..." he groans in fear as he realizes what has happened. I hold onto him tightly, running my fingers through his hair as I shush him. He's so weak he can hardly even lift his head. Nat stares, continuous shock plastered all over her face.

She looks over at me, mouthing the words "I'm going to get help."

I nod, changing my focus back to Bruce again as I hold onto his weak and tired body. He wraps his arms around my waist, pulling me into him tightly as I continue to shush him softly. He rests his head against me.

"It's okay, it's okay, I know. Everything's gonna be fine, I promise." I whisper into his ear. He lets out another long groan as he hears my voice in his ear, tightening his grip on me as he catches his breath.

No one has ever been able to calm him down and get him to transform back before besides himself or some type of medicine. I can't even believe I did it myself. I'm no longer afraid, all I want to do now is help him. I close my eyes, hugging his bare and sweaty body tightly as his arms are wrapped around my small body. His breathing begins to sound like quiet cries as he really realizes what's happened. He hasn't transformed in over a year, I can't imagine what he's feeling right now.

"Y-you're okay? You're okay..." Bruce says shakily into my ear. I nod over and over, "Shhh...it's okay. I'm fine. I'm okay."