"I won't. Bruce," She smiled looking into those warm loving chocolate brown eyes, "I love you too…I'm sorry I left in the first place. I-"
"Vell vell vell, vhat hav ve here?"
The two embracing Avenger heroes turned their head to the side of the mountain observing a man dressed in a black suit with his face shrouded by a purple cloth mask. Two small eye holes provided the only indication of his flesh. "Who are you?" Bruce pulled his hands away from Bella's cheeks to her back clutching her protectively, almost a similar notion to the Hulk's ability from earlier. "What do you want with her?"
The man laughed while a wall of soldiers climbed up the mountain behind him. "I already 'ave vhat I vant, Mr. Banner-"
"It's Doctor Banner!" Bella yelled back with a glare. From out of the corner of her eye she could see Bruce turn his head looking at her with a smile. She returned his look with an even bigger smirk. "Doctor Bruce Banner, actually…" Her anger had faded looking into the warm and humbleness in his eyes.
"Ves, Docta Banner. Actually, I 'ave an old friend of vours vith me…perhaps vou vould be interested in visiting vith 'im?" The masked man replied with a sneer despite the fact Bella nor Bruce could see his face.
"I really rather not, I-"
"Emil!"
A scruffy looking blonde man emerged from the crowd, stopping alongside of the masked villain. "Ello, remember me?"
Bruce held onto Bella even tighter. His fingernails almost digging into her bare back from his strength. She was startled by his instant protective motion and closed her eyes as he seemed to push her into the crease of his chest not even daring to let her out of his grasp. But being a curious explorer, Bella lifted one of her eye lids toward the purple man and his cronies behind. "You!" Her voice was husky trying to pull out of Bruce's grasp to give the man a piece of her own mind.
"You know him too?" Bruce looked down still not budging his hold on her. Whoever this man was and what kind of history he and Bruce had together, she could infer the two were in for a bumpy ride. "Yes-" Banner was only about two inches taller than she but she still needed to look up at him, "H-He's the one that kidnapped me…Blonsky, correct?" She turned to look at her kidnapper, observing and confirming all of the details she gathered when she was drugged in Morocco.
Blonsky only smirked. "Good to see you two, love."
"At ze moment, all zat is left is for zings to fall into place." The masked capturer nodded crossing his hands behind his back. After a slight chuckle, an armada of guards arrived behind his and Emil's figure. "Vou zee, zere is-"
Just then a shiny metal figure landed in between the opposing forces. "Tony!" Bella called out trying to break from her containment in Bruce's arms. Only when she yelled the billionaire's name did she become confused to why he would change his predominate red and gold suit into a plain and simple one. That wasn't like the Tony Stark she knew, and somewhat loved.
Then another man of iron, this one in red and gold, landed alongside of the silver one. "And…Tony?" She looked to Bruce who nodded in confirmation. "So I'm guessing a close friend of yours?" Bella muttered to the real Iron Man.
Flipping his mask off to face the hugging couple, Tony smirked. "Heh, good to see you too, Sweet Cakes." He turned to face the mask villain and his armada with his hands raised in the air. The silver Iron Man did the same. "Make your move ugly. I assume you're ugly because you have a paper bag over your head."
"Hmp. Vou assume? Vell Mr. Stark, please allow me to giv you more of my 'ospitality as before." The mask man had reached into his pocket revealing a small red pebble. Personally knowing the severity of the small object, Bella pushed Bruce and herself to the floor just as a beam of red light shot towards her and the others. The iron men moved out of the way now both floating in the air. "Ah, vou all are formidable as expected!"
Angered beyond belief, Bella stood from out of Bruce's arms, "Give that back!" She demanded.
"Ah, I zink not, Mizz Marzone."
"First you capture me, and then you steal the gems. What exactly are you up to?"
The man replaced the stone in his pocket once again with a chuckle. "Ve already hav two of ze gems and combined vith vour three ve only need one left."
Bella gasped for a moment staring at the purple masked face.
"Vou vill retrieve ze last stone for us. Or vour friends vill die."
Glaring to Tony hovering over her head while Bruce seemed to hold a stern grip on her hand to assure her of their protection, Bella replied. "Never! You would be a fool to think I would even think to help you!"
The man laughed throwing his masked face in the air as he did. "I knew it. Just like vour father, eh Blonsky?"
Bella tilted her head to the side at his comment. She then looked to Bruce who seemed to mimic her confused stature as well. Just as Bella opened her mouth to demand for an answer to his statement, a sudden burst of wind shot above the group's heads. Looking up, Bella smiled at the familiarity of two SHILED aircraft hovering over top but then frowned at the person that first jumped out.
"Ah, Mr. Nicolas Fury, I'm zo glad vou could join us." The masked man held his gloved hands out. "I vas just about to invorm Mizz Marzone of my zecret, but now that vou're 'ere it makes zis so much betta!"
Three other people jumped from out of the low flying planes and honestly, Bella couldn't be any happier to see those two faces alongside of her and Bruce, "Steve! Clint!" She cried with tears forming in her eyes.
The two dismantled their weapons aiming for the small army in front of them. The other man that had jumped from the jet with Fury, she didn't know his name, but she assumed he was an agent of SHIELD as well.
"Ahhh, just az expected." The mask villain chuckled. "Did vou invorm vour agents of ze zeverity of zis situation? Or vere vou just expecting vour men to follow vour command az vou always 'ave instructed?" Fury opened his mouth about to speak when Purple Mask cut him off, "It iz just too bad zat poor Mizz Marzone vill be taken away from my fortress vithout even hearing ze truth about her father."
"There is nothing I haven't told her already, I-"
"What was that, Director Fury?"
A new voice yelled from the distance of the men in amour making everyone tense- even tenser than they were before. As the soldiers pushed aside, another man came into focus. Bella had to drop her arms from Bruce as she stared at the man.
A scar across his lips, light amber hair, and a face that almost seemed to be reflecting off of a mirror. This was her father standing before Isabella and the others. This was Richard Peterson, second in command of SHIELD and the man that gave Isabella Marcone life.
"F-Father?" She gasped taking a slight step backwards. "W-What?" Her hand made its way through the tangles in her hair. "W-why?"
Peterson smiled evilly. "Good to see you again, Isabella. How's your mother?"
Bella removed her hand throwing it into a fist by her side, "Dead." With her curt statement, she turned to Fury. "You lied." She added. "Again!"
"Blonsky." The purple masked man whispered loud enough for everyone to hear, "Grab ze girl."
"What?" Bella turned back to Emil confused by why this villain would ask for the ex-soldier to capture her with so many heroes surrounding her. She doubted he could be a match for her new boyfriend- a big hunk of green Hulk that could easily become agitated.
That was until she watched Emil's body start to grow and double.
"He's a-a," Bella gasped but then felt a roar from her side and a push to the ground from a big green hand. "HULK!" But Blonsky was nothing like Bruce's Hulk. Blonsky was an abomination, THE monster Bruce so often referred to himself as.
Looking up at the snarling mass of green muscle now protecting her from the yellowish green hulk across the way, Bella fell to the ground attempting to take a few paces back behind the original big green Hulk. "I-I don't…-"
Hulk growled in that instant and the ground beneath her body seemed to shatter at the footsteps coming from Blonsky's new form. He was at least 11 feet tall, topping Bruce's Hulk form by at least two feet. The two connected for the moment as Blonsky tried to push aside Hulk to get to his target behind.
Bella could only watch astonished by the horror and the pure strength and brutality that came from this new Hulk. His bones, which were enlarged just like the rest of his figure, seemed to stick out of his skin. Especially in corners of his body such as his elbows, knees, and heels. His sternum and ribs also seemed to protrude outwards adding to the lethal statue of the monster.
"Wha are ya crazy?"
A gruff voice yanked on Bella's lean arm in an attempt to pull her off of the ground in her petrified state. Looking into unfamiliar brown eyes, Bella hesitated as the unshaven man attempted to pull her onto her feet once again. "Who?" She gasped not sure if 'who' was the right word to use at the moment.
He seemed to understand despite her lack of vocabulary, "Logan. Come on." Without another warning, he pulled her up and onto her aching feet running back towards where Fury and the others had landed. The jets were over their heads.
That was until another beam of red light shot out towards them. Luckily, the aircrafts were not hit, but they needed to retreat into the woods of the mountains forcing Bella and the others on a longer journey to outrun the villains behind. "Damnit. Just great!" Logan cursed holding onto Bella's arm tighter as the two ran.
"Tony!" Bella called out, as he hovered above her head and then flew back into the line of fire. She could hear the sound of his arc reactor behind as he fought the armada of guards Bella had fought inside the building of her capturers.
Steve was waving Bella and Logan to the edge of the woods where he, Fury and Clint were attempting to block out even more guards surrounding their position. "Hurry up!" He called out and then widened his eyes. "No! Look out!"
Bella became confused by the Captain's warning but then her confirmation of his nerves became clear as the ground below her shook. The two slowed their running to look behind not expecting Emil's repulsive grin, "Going somewhere, love?" He growled.
Only fearing the worst for her split-personality love interest, Bella looked around for the green Hulk of mass now disarmed and lying on the ground after his fight with Blonsky.
"Go!" Logan pushed Bella forwards while turning to face Abomination.
She only grunted completely confused at how this man was going to take on this 11 foot tall monster. Sure his grip on her arm was pretty strong and forceful, but that couldn't match a Hulk's strength.
"Logan, no! What are you doing? You're going to get yourself-" She was about to say 'killed' when the sound of crossing metal blades caught her attention instead. From out both of his knuckles grew three long and sharp metal blades. "Wha…?" She gasped taking a step backwards not entirely sure which one standing in front of her was the true monster. "What are you?"
Logan held his fists above his chest taking a defensive stance to protect the woman behind. "A wolverine. Now go!" He yelled running towards Emil.
Bella wasted no time in questioning her defender quickly running towards, "Steve!" He held his shield to protect his body from the oncoming bullet that were being shot from the guards surrounding the entire group.
"Bella! Come with me!" Captain clutched her arm mimicking Logan earlier. Did no one think she was capable of running on her own, she wondered silently following his command. "We have to-" He began to say when suddenly he was pushed from out of her grasp.
"Steve!" Bella screamed watching him fly to the side as a purple gassed man flew alongside of the woman. The villain looked to Bella with a smile through his gas-like body structure, "Oh hey, remember me?" The man spoke with a familiar voice and red glowing eyes.
"Why do I-" She began to question when she gasped at the realization of who this was, "Simon? Simon Williams!"
"You got it, princess- ugh!" A streak of blue and red hit the purple body causing both heads to look back at Captain America running towards the two. "Run!" He commanded making Bella turn on her heel to flee the scene. It seemed running away was one of those attributes she learned from SHIELD that she was going to do for the rest of her life, well, besides not knowing about Fury's detailed and overly complicated lies.
Running towards the forest in the mountain, Bella thought about her father standing before her friends and enemies behind her. And yet, she pushed the thought to the side only continuing to run until she made it into the entrance of the thin limbs of trees. She stood with her back against the cool bark of one of the trees trying to understand the situation she had been thrown into.
"Why are you running?" A voice pulled Bella's racing thoughts to look back into what seemed to be her own reflection. It was her father now standing before her. "This could all be solved if you just listen and-"
"NO!" Bella shoved the man back taking a defensive step towards him. "I'm not like you! I don't turn my back on people I care about!"
Peterson nodded brushing the dirt off of his decorative suit. "Hm. I see-"
"Why?" Bella blurted out completely forgetting about the events happening around her.
"Why what, Izzy?"
The woman grunted with a roll of her grey eyes, "Don't you dare call me that! You have no right to call me anything but Agent Marcone!" She pointed a finger at him as if the roles had switched and she was his parent. "Why did you leave mom? Why did you make her miserable? And after she and granny died you couldn't even have the audacity to visit me?" She turned her back to the man that had given her life itself. Her only thought was to hold her arms close now regretting those lonely nights she wished her father was still a part of her young life.
"Isabella, it's not like that really…" Peterson's voice was a whisper; a sincere and honest sorrow from his tone of voice. "Please, sweetheart I just-"
"You can't blame this on work like you did when I was little, Richard! I'm 27 years old! I'm not the little girl you knew!" She turned back to face her father. "Not that you even saw me when you were married to mom."
"Sweetheart, listen." He looked around their position and then held out his hand. Clutched in his palm was a shiny yellow gem. "Take this. I assume you know which one this is, even though it is not one of the ones you collected."
Snatching it from his hand quickly, Bella had almost doubted that it was real. Holding the gem up to her eyes to see the shine reflect off of the object, Bella smiled throwing it down the built in bra of her dress. "Why are you doing this?"
"Don't lose it." Was the only reply she got. "Now go!" He raised a gun towards the middle of her forehead and shot the bullet from within the mouth of the weapon. Luckily, Bella was quick to notice his hesitation and quickly ducked out of the way.
Raising her elbow up into the center of his gut, she took the gun from out of his hands into her own. "Thanks." She smiled and then turned to shoot an incoming guard behind her back.
"Agent Marcone!"
She raised her head up to see Clint armed with his bow shooting the incoming wall of guards heading towards the forest. "Oh hey!" She smiled and shot another man coming up behind his back. Clint looked quickly and then frowned. She knew how much he hated it when he didn't see something threatening.
"Hurry!" He shot a couple of guards in the chest forcing them to the ground.
Bella nodded still holding on to the gun and making her way towards her fellow agent - the two of them back to back defending off the men from their position.
"Damn." The Agent threw the gun to the ground after the remaining bullets emptied. With her hands held in front of her chest, her only option now was to fight one on one against the men. Well that was her plan. Until she saw a streak of red and blue flash across her eyes.
"Cap!" Bella smiled as the only successful super solider came to the two Agent's aid. "Glad you could make it!" She knocked a guard to the side with the use of her palm and knees looking towards the man in blue standing in front of her. "What happened to Simon?"
"Tony and the other one are taking care of him."
"And Bruce?" She added looking into his crystal blue eyes. But as she became distracted from the state of her green hulk of muscle and hadn't noticed the man with the gun aimed towards her, until it was too late. The blast of the shot rang in both of her and Steve's heads and in the next instant Bella felt the ricochet of the sharp bullet push pass the flesh in her upper limb. Luckily, it had only grazed her arm and not shot through or in it, but the pain was still just as great as if it had.
Bella yelled for a moment and then fell forward into something warm. It was Captain America, Steve Rogers, she could tell without opening her eyes to the man. He yelled out something above her head, but Isabella hadn't paid any sort of attention to his words. She only focused on the hard piece of gem now putting pressure on her sternum in her chest. It hurt, maybe just as much as the bullet graze she had just received.
"Bella? Isabella! Are you okay?"
She heard Steve yelling once again but she still paid him no attention. Instead she was giving into the overwhelming feeling she once had while fighting through the outskirts of Wakanda. Her anger. The rage from the Gamma poisoning in her body.
Or maybe it was the sheer fact she was realizing what all had happened since she escaped from the bedroom she woke up in:
She had found Bruce, almost died from the armada of guards and from the Hulk saving her. Then she found the man in charge of her capture, the purple masked man.
Emil Blonsky. He had captured her in Morocco and was also a past enemy of Bruce.
Tony and his friend were here, as well as Fury and a few of her fellow agents of SHIELD. And then her father joined the party, proving to Bella that Fury had been lying about his death. And to make matters worse, it seemed that Richard Peterson was on her side despite being on the enemy territory.
She was so confused, frightened, and most of all tired and hungry.
The Gamma inside of her body was proving to get the best of her distressed emotions. Without another thought, she felt her body giving into the Gamma raging through her veins. "S-Ste-vee." She gasped holding onto his shoulder with a stronger grip than he had remembered. "Steve!" She grunted again raising her head to look back at him.
For a moment, Steve Rogers felt horrified looking into the lime green eyes shining into his own. The last time he remembered, Isabella's eyes were grey.
"Steve. Listen to me." She grunted through grinding teeth. "Something bad is about to happen! Y-You have ta hit me, right now!" She yelled holding onto his shoulder even stronger as the rage almost seemed to pain her body. Steve seemed petrified by her demands. "Do it!"
Her demands were going against Steve's upbringing as a kid in the 1930s. He couldn't hit a woman, no matter how much she wanted him to; he didn't have the heart to hurt this woman.
"NOW!" Bella yelled again this time throwing him back with all of her strength.
Her and Steve's bickering caused Clint to turn at their argument. "Captain, we got stray's coming from all sides." He added.
"Steve!" Bella grinded her teeth once again feeling her veins in her neck grow and pulsate. "NOW, STEVE!" She screamed. "IF YOU DON'T I'LL-" She couldn't finish her sentence.
Instead she felt a pain at the top of her forehead while the sound of metal against her skull rang in her ears.