A/N: Uhm… see end. *Prepares to dodge*
Running Wild
Chapter Two.
Tony sat at the conference table drumming his fingers on the dark wood impatiently. He had absolutely no idea what he was even doing here on the Helicarrier, he knew that the rest of the team were getting some kind of debriefing; that he apparently wasn't invited to for 'security reasons' and Bruce was off excavating his old lab in New Mexico with Sitwell. Which he totally wasn't sulking about because who on earth would he be interested in a load of broken lab equipment even the Banner home brew kind? Not him that's for damned sure and he were sure as hell not missing the guy either, nope not at all. He drummed his fingers even more obnoxiously on the table and pushed aside the uncomfortable feeling in his chest, he honestly wasn't in the mood to deal with emotions. Especially with essentially being sent to the naughty corner and left with no one to prod and pester. How he hadn't gone out of his mind in sheer boredom already he truly didn't know.
He didn't even have the suit with him so he could blow this popsicle stand and boy was he going to thank Rogers for that later.
He stopped trying to bore through the table with his fingers and shot a sharp look at the SHIELD agent standing sheepishly by the door, the man flinched minutely and if Tony hadn't been looking for it he wouldn't have spotted it. Well good; it was good that someone had the intelligence to at least be a little wary of him instead of the bullshit the rest of the organisation tried to feed him.
"Hey you." He snapped at the guard in full on 'Tony Stark, asshole mode "What does a guy have to do to get a drink around here?"
The guard, who Tony had mentally named 'Chad', remained completely impassive; his hand just hovering over his fire arm in a reprimanding manner. The billionaire just rolled his eyes and lent back in the chair, propping his feet up on the edge of the conference table.
"Seriously I don't bite..." Tony carried on in an obnoxious tone "And I'm not diseased either regardless of what Agent Hill says; she's a lying liar who lies and is determined to tarnish my immaculate reputation by being a gossip and spreading salacious rumours about me."
He didn't miss the slight quirk of the agent's lips and mentally congratulated himself on winning yet another agent away from the dark side, Hill could fucking suck it.
"Of course Mar. Stark."
That was of course when everything decided to go to hell.
"Alert, alert incoming projectile; all agents prepare for impact."
The alarms blared loudly almost deafening Tony and he grimaced as the whole room shook sending him flying from his chair. That had been one hell of an impact, the Helicarrier was a pretty steady beast (he should know he'd designed the stabilizer systems) for it to rock so violently meant something very big, or. very explosive had hit. Quickly getting to his feet he shot a stern look at Agent Chad as he brushed of less imaginary than he'd liked dust.
"That didn't happen, right." His eyes flicked to the toppled chair.
"Of course not Mr Stark..." There was a faint sliver of humour in his voice "... But might I suggest that we move to evacuation point."
Tony thrice cursed Steve once again and nodded, looking seriously unhappy at the fact that he had to be 'evacuated'. He was Iron Man for fucks sake he should be knee deep in this shit; not being escorted out of the damn place. The Helicarrier shuddered violently once again and Tony just about kept his balance using the wall to steady himself, Agent Chad didn't so much as flinch and kept on striding down the corridor much to the billionaire's chagrin. It was just as Tony was mentally ranting about 'SHIELD meat-heads' that a loud and bonechilling sound echoed through the bowels of the Helicarrier.
"AaAavvVenGeeeers!"
Tony froze on the spot; there was something distinctly familiar about that voice though he couldn't for the life of him figure out why or where he knew it from. Agent instantly had his gun poised in a firing position as the earpiece in his ear flared with noise.
"Yes Director... He's here with me. We're heading to the evacuation point now... Roger, Agent Johnson out."
The billionaire rolled his eyes in exasperation.
A second roar pierced the air and it froze the blood in Tony's veins.
"STaaaarK!"
Well shit.
Agent Chad... Johnson... Whatever turned and looked at him with wide slightly fearful eyes carefully hidden behind a neutral expression and Tony flashed him a bright, wide and utterly fake smile; clamping a hand on his shoulder. He really would have thought that the cute little SHIELD agents were used to things like this by now.
"Well that sounds like our signal to get a move on, so lead the way agent."
The agent didn't argue and moved forward the billionaire in tow.
There was a crash and the sound of metal twisting as Monster collided with the hull of the flying ship Banner sometimes flew on. Banner knew Stark would be there so that was where Monster needed to go. He could feel Banner rallying against him in the corner of his mind but it was no good,
Monster was strong.
Monster was in control.
The shards of twisted metal rolled of his body as he shook himself off like a dog and Monster let out a roar, signalling his intent.
"AAaAavvVenGeeeers!"
Then for good measure he added.
"STaaaarK!"
There was a ringing as a gunshot fired, the bullets bouncing off his thick hide and furious red eyes narrowed to slits; zeroing in on the puny mortals that had tried to hurt him. In the back of his mind he could hear Banner bleating on, pleading with him to do no harm, to show mercy.
Monster laughed.
They had shot first, they showed him no mercy and he would show them none in return.
"FoOooOLs." He hissed bitterly.
And lunged forward talons raking through the air and sharp teeth glinting in the dim light.
Tony followed the Agent through the corridors, trying to ignore the ominous flickering of the lights and the sounds of gunfire in the distance. Just what the hell was going on? Agent hadn't heard anything else since his initial orders and the billionaire had to admit it was starting to freak him out more than a little. Ahead of them a high pitched shriek pierced the air followed by a short spattering of gunfire, both men hugged the wall and waited breath held tight in their chests.
A moment passed.
Then two.
Then...
"ComE outT, Come ouT, I kNoW You'RE thERe. I cAn SMeeeeeeLl you."
The sound of something sharp dragging against the metal that lined the corridors sent shudders down Tony's spine and he began to back away back toward where they'd come from. However his escort didn't move an inch and the billionaire cursed furiously under his breath. He edged forward again and roughly grabbed Chad's uniform, hauling him backwards but his efforts were in vain because the next second the thing that had decimated the platoon rounded the corner and Tony felt the stomach drop out of his stomach.
Ho-ly Mary mother of God.
The thing was huge, yellow skinned and red-eyed; looking exactly like something out of the billionaire's worst nightmare. What was worse was the slow, sadistic grin that crossed the warped features, causing the slitted eyes to crinkle slightly. He wasn't exactly sure why he thought it but there was something familiar about those eyes. The monster took one small step forward, nearly closing the gap between it and the two men, long clawed fingers scraping against the floor and making a terrible din. Tony reflexively took a step backwards dragging the now entirely immobile Agent with him.
"STaaaaRk. I SeE yOuUu."
And didn't that suck?
"TimE tO BrEAk yOuUu."
"Fuck.." He breathed as Agent Chad was tossed to the side like a ragdoll and the creature grabbed hold of him by the throat slamming him against the wall forcing all the breath from his lungs. He gasped out a winded moan of pain, eyes rolling back slightly as the world went fuzzy, something the monster seemed to find amusing; if the gravelly sound erupting from its mouth was anything to go by.
"So VeRy PuNY. So eASy tO SmASh."
There was a flicker of recognition in Tony's eyes, but no it couldn't be? There was no way. The next acidic words only confirmed the billionaire's greatest fear.
"Will MaKe PuNy BaNNer waTCh aS I SmASh you, SmASh His HeARt fOr kEEpiNg mE Trapped."
Whatever breath Tony had managed to recover by that point was stolen from him and all he could do was choke out a pained, breathy "Bruce..."
The monster roared in his face.
"Not BaNNer! Not BaNNer! MoNSteR iS MoNSteR!"
There was a faint cough from the billionaire as Monster squeezed Tony's neck a bit more, the long talons digging into the back of his neck painfully. Fuck it hurt, so badly, like his head was about to pop right off the top of his neck but he refused to give the thing holding him captive the satisfaction of knowing that it was hurting him. He stared into the wild red eyes unafraid because he was Tony fucking Stark and he bowed to no one, man or monster. Monster drew back it's free arms, the wicked looking talons catching the glare of the fluorescent light and making the billionaire wish that he could gulp at the moment. There was a swish of air as the arm moved and then there was a loud clang as it connected that was something distinctly not Tony. There was a roar of frustration and the billionaire had honestly never been so relieved to see Captain America's shield in his entire life.
The shield had ricocheted back to Steve's outstretched arm and the good Captain looked ready to rumble.
"Drop him. First and last warning." He commanded, his voice leaving no room for argument.
Monster just laughed hysterically the jerky movements around Tony's neck making him feel a little like a champagne cork.
Steve didn't waste any more time he hurled a flash grenade before flinging his shield with all his might at the creatures head, the blast going off and temporarily blinding the monster. Steve grinned in satisfaction as Monster's head snapped back as the shield connected squarely and sent him sprawling to ground stunned at least for the moment. It wasn't much, not really but it was enough for the creature to lose his grip on Tony and the man slid to the floor, gasping wildly for a second before scrabbling away and toward Steve; where reinforcements had arrived. Natasha and Clint stood shoulder to shoulder with Steve who was happily accepting a gun from the widow.
"Call it Cap." Clint said, his voice rough and professional.
"If you get a kill shot take it, the thing is damned tough; a prolonged fight would not be to our advantage."
"Wait… You can't.." Tony croaked rubbing his abused throat.
The three other members of the Avenger looked at him incredulously.
"Why not?" Asked Natasha clearly annoyed by Tony's interruption.
The billionaire floundered for a second, unsure that they would believe what he had to say. He was still having a pretty hard time believing it himself; that the Bruce he knew had such a monster buried deep inside of him. Not as unbelievable as you would think considering he did house the Hulk but at least with Hulk you could understand his motivations.
This thing…
"Because…. Because…"
"Spit it out Stark!"
"Because it's Bruce!" He shouted back, face red in frustration and from his previous asphyxiation.
"What?!" Steve gaped, blue eyes wide with shock.
Tony bit his lip. "I don't know how or what happened but what I do know is that Bruce is trapped inside of that thing and we gotta help him"
"Stark…" Natasha said softly "It's too dangerous."
Tony bristled at her lack of faith. "Listen, he really came here to get us, so if we lead him away from here them perhaps we can reach him wherever he is in there."
"And if we can't…"
"It won't come to that Natasha."
Natasha didn't look convinced but she nodded; Clint and Steve however looked torn. They had both gotten rather close to Bruce over the last few months, Steve because Bruce was the only one with enough patience to answer any questions he had about the twenty first century and Clint because they had often found themselves bumping into one another in the dead of night both driven awake by their nightmares. None of them had many people they could consider a confidant but the physicist had somehow slotted into that role for almost all of them with his quiet unobtrusive manner and self-effacing humour.
They weren't going to give up on him so easily.
"Okay, go team… So hangar then?" Tony tried and failed to sound chipper.
The other three nodded and the four of them started off down the corridor toward the hangar bay hoping they hadn't made a huge mistake.
Monster blinks the stupid white dots away and cracks his neck, growling under his breath.
Stupid soldier.
Stupid shield.
Monster would make them pay dearly for this, would pull their still beating hearts from their chests and laugh while Banner watched and cried from behind their shared eyes. He would make sure to take his time over Stark though, relish every whimper of despair.
But first he had to catch them and unlike Hulk, Monster was much smarter. He had heard their plan pathetic though it was and he wouldn't allow them to escape from his clutches. Moving with an fluid grace Monster decimated any SHIELD agents that crossed his path as he followed them down to the hangar, following the stench of their fear. By the time he arrived the jet they had commandeered was on the verge of take off and Monster couldn't have that. He sprinted forward and caught the right wing in his grasp. The jet shuddered but didn't stop it's acceleration and it plummeted off the edge before clumsily gaining altitude. Monster grinned to himself and licked his lips in anticipation unable to not take advantage of the situation presented to him. Banner was screaming in the back of his mind, flinging himself at the barrier the kept them separate in a futile attempt to wrestle control away from him.
But it was too late.
Far too late.
The Avengers had already lost.
Clawing his way across the wing Monster grabbed hold of the jets tail and sent the plane into a tailspin. Faster and faster it twirled and even in free fall he could hear the sounds of the humans panicking like rats inside. He could see the ground approaching, the Avengers would not have enough time to do anything to save their skins. With a malicious grin he clings tighter and waits for the impact.
BOOM!
The crash sends shockwaves flying in all directions and amidst the rubble Monster climbs to his feet. Around him is chaos and fire and the smell of burning flesh. It is that last smell that pleases him the most. The barest flicker of light catches his eye and he twists his head around; there in the distance is the familiar blue glow of an arc reactor and he stalks forward to retrieve the object sticking his hand into the fire not caring about the seering pain. The reactor is still working; barely, the blue light flickering on and off like a dying star.
He crushes it under his foot without a second thought, flames dancing around him as if in victory.
"HahahHAhaAHAAHAHHHAHAHA…" Monster begins laughing, he has won. Banner has lost everything.
"HAhAHAhahahAHAHahAHAHAHAHaa…." Monster is the victor come and see what you've wrought Banner.
"HAHAhahahaAHAHhahAHAHAahahaahhahaha…" He is still laughing as the transformation takes hold, his lanky yellow form twisting back into that of Bruce; hysterics still shaking the almost human looking being now. When it is finally complete the man is still chuckling the remnants of Monster's psyche remaining and then in an instant he's all Bruce again and horror hits him square in the gut and he begins to tremble. Tired brown eyes look down to the debris sticking into his foot and Bruce tentatively picked up what appeared to be a vibranium core his stomach threatening to spill whatever contents are left inside.
He takes in the carnage, the destruction utterly mortified and despairing.
"Oh God, what have I done?"
End Chapter Two.
A/N: Okay please, please don't kill me. I promise it will all make sense (ish) Poor Bruce, I do like picking on him so. Anywho sorry this took so long… Been having a rough few weeks.
Oh, and thanks for all the lovely comments and the favs and the bookmarks. They were all really awesome!