Betrayed. That was the first thing that the Hulk realized after regaining consciousness. Not the reinforced clamps keeping his limbs in place. Not the ship he found himself in that was moving at the speed of light in the void of space. Not even to the planet that came to view ahead.
No. All that the green skinned brute was the fact that he was betrayed. There was no need to guess who. He already knew who they were and it made him angry. He bellowed his lungs out to no one and wildly thrashed to no avail from the clamps holding him tight. The technology had Stark's stink all over it. The very thought of that man made the Hulk gnash his teeth in frustration.
The beast's actions were not ignored. The entire ship came to life as the various computers and screens inside activated. A row of lights turned on one by one from the ship's empty cockpit down to the Hulk's holding cell where the Hulk found himself strung up against the wall like a hunting trophy.
A holographic screen activated and revealed the culprits of his betrayal. Black Bolt, Dr. Strange, Mr. Fantastic, and Tony Stark. The Illuminati. The very last people that the Hulk wanted to see. Hulk knew that they weren't really there and but he wished that they were. He would have loved to smash them to paste.
"I am truly sorry for what we have to do." Ironman said solemnly. "But we had no choice."
Hulk glowered at the image. Of all people they had to choose, they just had to choose Stark as their spokesperson. He hated Stark more than the others and the very sight of him just made him even angrier.
"When you get angry, Bruce. When you are overcome by rage. You are a force of destruction."
"I'LL SHOW YOU DESTRUCTION!" The Hulk roared and pulled his body from the clamps in a mad bid to escape.
Unlike before, the clamps began to groan and strain from the Hulk's growing strength. Anger wasn't the only thing pushing him right now but pure hatred. Hatred for the Illuminati's betrayal. Hatred for their unfair sentence. Hatred for that Stark's ugly face.
"You fear nothing. Even the mightiest heroes of Earth, could not deter you. The madder you get, the stronger you get. And there's no limit to your rage."
Stark's words couldn't have been truer. The Hulk's muscles grew larger. His flesh became denser. The fury in his eyes became brighter. His strength grew along with it. So much so that the clamps became overtaxed. The device sputtered electricity as it vainly tried to hold the monster in place but by then it was too late. Its so called unbreakable steel began to expand until it got ripped apart like paper.
Freed from his shackles, the Hulk roared and began smashing the ship apart from the inside starting with the hologram of the Illuminati in front of him. He knew that they weren't really there but destroying their faces in every screen gave the monster a small sense of satisfaction.
Stark's recording ceased the moment the Hulk smashed the last screen but he didn't stop there. Hulk's anger was still unabated and wouldn't stop until every last thing around him was smashed to pieces. Not even if the ship he was in was the one being torn apart. The Hulk was never known for his strategic mindset.
! WARNING! GUIDANCE SYSTEM, OFFLINE! TRAJECTORY, ALTERED!
The clarion alarms of the ship's computer broke out and filled the air with loud sirens. Not that the Hulk noticed or cared. He finally did when he punched on side of the ship so hard that it tore a small gash through it. Pieces of the ship were torn off and chipped off parts of the engine. Causing it to haywire and break off.
Hulk was barely able to keep himself upright when the ship began spinning wildly in the reaches of space. The small gash grew to be a hole as pieces of the ship was torn off and was sucking everything out. The Hulk held firm and grabbed onto anything he could get his hands on for dear life. The force of gravity that tried pulling him out did not trouble the Hulk too much. The only problem was that the items in the ship did not share the same constitution as him.
Hulk managed to plant his feet deep into the ship's steel floor and anchored himself in place just in time to see his destined planet disappear from view. The ship instead raced off to a different direction and onto a nearby wormhole that appeared in front of the ship.
A massive gaping maw of raw energy siphoned the dark matter of space surrounding it. It was inevitable for the Hulk's ship to get sucked in with its size being over thousands of miles long. The ship entered the wormhole's waves like a pebble in a coursing river until it entered the hole.
In the face of oblivion, the Hulk did not show fear. Neither did he show hesitation at the thought that the energy that the wormhole emitted would destroy the ship and him along with it. Instead the Hulk roared at the thing as he would do to any enemy that stood against him. Almost as if he was challenging it to a fight without regrets.
And so the Hulk roared in defiance at the unknown. He roared loudly and proudly to the great maw that consumed him and surrounded him in darkness.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Waking up from unconsciousness seems to be a common trend for the Hulk today since it always introduced him to new locations. He found himself inside the same ship or what's left of it that is. The ship was in tatters. Unrecognizably damaged with sparks popping out around him and smoke pouring out.
Kicking the wall out of his ship, the Hulk climbed out from the wreck. By some miracle, the Illuminati's recording reactivated itself and continued Stark's message from where it left off. Despite hearing the bastard's voice once again, the Hulk had no care for it since his attention focused at something else. None of it were to his liking.
He couldn't help but hear the irony of Stark's words however as it was compared to what was around the Hulk.
"…We've picked your destination carefully. (Static) A planet filled (Static) with vegetation and game. (Static)"
The ground beneath him was soft like mud and mildly burned at every step. The thick scent of blood emanated from both it and the air around him like thick mists. So much so that it made Hulk sneeze. Instead of being surrounded by vegetation, Hulk was surrounded by massive pillars of bones and bronze with blood pouring out of the cracks like open wounds.
His instincts screamed of danger and Hulk felt that he was not alone. They moved away from his view as they disappeared behind the mists but Hulk knew that they are always there. Watching his every move.
"A planet with (Static) No intelligent lifeforms."
Hulk glowered at the figures that materialized from the shadows. Horned demons with baring fangs of all shapes and sizes marched towards him. Appearing from all sides with their brutish weapons and massive claws. The largest of whom, a winged demon with cloven hooves and nightmarish wings with an ornate cloak of skulls, smiled with glee at the sight of him. The demon could not only see but feel the fury the green monster was emanating.
"There will be no one there who could hurt you (Static)"
"BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD!" The daemon's shouted in unison.
The demons and beasts in the thousands shouted their battle cries in unison amidst their storm of clanging weapons. Their demonic tongues were no more than noise for the Hulk but their hostilities were certain. Especially when they fired a thunderous barrage of projectiles at him before charging at him for the slaughter at hand.
The earth quaked at the weight of their numbers as they came rushing in. The noise of their inhuman cheers for the ecstasy of battle filled the air with incomprehensible sounds. Bullets, missiles, and demonic fire blotted the skies and fell upon the Hulk like heavy rain.
The Hulk could do nothing more than brace in the face of the incoming barrage as they relentlessly bit and tore into him. Most of the projectiles harmlessly bounced off of him yet still packed a punch strong enough to make the Hulk stagger. Some stabbed into him and spilled his toxic blood on the ground.
The daemonic blasts had more effect on the green brute. Its inhuman flames boiled the very blood in his veins. Tore into his skin like a parasite biting into him. Striking his nerves like a whip of searing thorns. He felt as though the very atoms in his body was tearing itself apart. Pain that the Hulk has never experienced before despite fighting so many monstrous creatures and insane scientists like himself.
Every blast came with a price for the bloodthirsty demons however. They've mistaken the Hulk's screams as one of pain and weakness in the face of certain oblivion. Little did they know that every square shot they got on the green beast only made him angrier. The Hulk just had about to pay back that price in full as he released his rage upon these hellspawn.
With a rough grunt, Hulk charged forward and struck the incoming hordes with his infamous Thunderclap.
The force of the clap was so powerful that it deflected the wave of solid projectiles into careening to the others that set off explosions and snuffed out the demonic fire to harmless embers. The sound it made was louder than any noise the nearby demons could muster as it snuffed out sound from their ears permanently. Deafened by the force of the clap.
The powerful gust of wind that came at them threw the lesser demons back only to be impaled on the shard horns of their fellow demons. The bigger ones that held their ground were torn apart from the debris that came flying at them. The pile of used bullets and wreckage surrounding Hulk finally found some use.
Hulk managed to kill off scores of demons with that one move. Hundreds of them littered the open fields and added more blood to the already blood soaked earth. An act that earned both the fear and ire of some of the lesser demons while earning the respect of the larger ones as an opponent worth facing. They all gathered for another charge when simple gesture from the lead demon made them all stop in their tracks.
The winged demon with the thousand skulls approached Hulk and much to his surprise, spoke in a guttural yet coherent tongue and a voice that seem the shout inside Hulk's mind.
"I am Rakshasalka the Indomitable, Demon Prince of Khorne. I cannot say if you are an Ork or a Man, yet it doesn't matter since you are mortal and a visitor to our Realm." The demon raised his arms open like an embrace. "Allow me to welcome you in kind and allow me the satisfaction of your inevitable demise in front of the very Basilica of our Lord. What say you, mortal?"
The Demon was thrice Hulk's size and was just as fearsome as he is powerful yet the green giant did not falter. He had no cause for fear since he had faced worse odds before and faced off against worst foes. What he did have was anger and what's better was that it's anger aimed for this demon prince who dared to belittle him like he was nothing. Hulk would not have any of that.
"HULK!" Hulk shouted defiantly at the grinning demon. "SMASH!"
It was an amazing sight worthy of awe and admiration. To see a lone green spot in a sea of red facing off against the very hordes of hell and jump head first into it without hesitation. The ground beneath the Hulk was crushed to pieces as he leapt towards the Demon Prince like a bullet with a massive fists leading the charge. The Demon Prince, though surprised, welcomed the challenge openly and faced the brute as any disciple of Khorne would do to earn his favor.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
What's left of the ship was blown away by the force let out by the Hulk and crushed some demons who stood idly by. The last of its power was used up and began shutting down its systems one by one but not before Stark's message had its say to his friend. Only to be unheard by the heartless mobs swarming it and by the uncaring Hulk who would never know.
"I know you must hate us (Static) Bruce. But you always said you want to be left alone (Static) May you finally find peace."
A/N: Just an experiment I wanted to try out before planning out an entire series on this. Let me know what you think in the reviews.