Hulk: The End

The Fight Inside

My name is Robert Bruce Banner. I am over two-hundred years old. I am the last surviving human being on the face of the Earth. And I'm finally going to die.

I feel it. The heat... in my chest. Dull, constricting, burning like fire.

I've been feeling pain on and off for two days. Didn't think anything of it... but now... now it's growing. Perhaps the Hulk's body can go on forever... but mine cannot.

Bruce Banner struggles to stand, his decrepit state combined with the intense pain within his chest almost too much for him to endure. He does not scream or cry out, for even if he did there would be no one that could answer. However, there is one who does instantly notice the agonizing pain that strikes Banner, that terrible pain that burns in his chest like the fire of the gods.

Enemy, familiar friend.

My beginning and my end.

Broken truth, whispering lies.

And it hurts again.

Banner...

What is puny Banner doing?

Banner is trying to hurt Hulk.

Something is going on with Banner.

Never should have kept puny Banner around.

Must smash him... crush him like bug!

Even now as Banner staggered about the rocky area, the pain within his chest growing with each passing moment, his eyes begin to glow an eerie, familiar green hue.

What I fear and what I try.

Words I say and what I hide.

All the pain, I want it to end.

But I want it again.

And now it seems that now... I'm finally given mercy. I will finally be freed of this curse. I will finally be at peace and with those that I love. I will finally see my loved ones again- my friends, my family, all of them.

Banner collapses to the ground, a weak grunt escaping his throat. He can truly see them, all of them, waiting for him. He wants to go to them, to finally be with them. But the Hulk... isn't as willing to accept the eternal peace that is death.

And it finds me.

The fight inside is coursing through my veins.

And it's raging.

The fight inside is hurting me again.

Hulk doesn't want friends, because friends will hurt him.

Everyone hurts him.

Everyone hurts Hulk.

Banner's body begins to shake and convulse on the cold ground, his eyes still glowing a brilliant emerald. There was a fight raging from within between two entities, two beings who shared the same body. One wishing to die in order to be at peace, the other fighting to survive and prevail in order to prove to be the strongest there is.

It's still the same, pursuing pain.

Isn't worth the lie I've gained.

We both know how it will end.

But I'd do it again.

Please... Hulk... let me go. See this place... this place of peace. Hulk... don't do it. Let me go... let us go... please.

Banner continues to plead to the Hulk, hoping and praying that he'll understand and set them both free. Death will bring him peace, but this is merely a sign of weakness to the Hulk. He does not wish to die, he wants to go on and live forever. He doesn't want friends, he doesn't want this peace that Banner wants, this peace that Banner offers them both.

And it finds me

The fight inside is coursing through my veins

And it's raging

The fight inside is hurting me again

No! Hulk won't let it happen! Hulk just wants to be left alone!

With his last scream, Banner watches on in horror as his ancient body begins to transform, a single tear falling from his right eye which streams down his cheek. Flesh and bones snap and tear, growing in size and mass as his very flesh morphed and changed in color. There would be no death, no peace for Bruce Banner. He would be forever trapped inside the Hulk, imprisoned in the very body that the two shared.

The last Titan.

The strongest one there is.

The Hulk.

And it finds me

The war within me pulls me under

And without you

The fight inside me is breaking me again

The End

Author's Notes

This little one-shot is inspired by the final pages of Peter David's "Hulk: The End". It's one of my all-time favorite Hulk stories with some excellent, emotional art by Dale Keown. I sincerely recommend it to anyone who loves comics or apocalyptic tales. If you want, you can view "Hulk: The End- The Last Titan" video on youtube.