Ok, next chapter here! Get ready for some humor, emotions, and a bit of a backstory. Enjoy!
***Diner***
So after making a call, and a bit of driving, the Twins, Scott and the Lang kids made it to a diner where they met up with someone they knew very well.
"Come on, I feel like I'm the only one eating here," the person said. "Here, have some eggs."
A huge green hand pushed a big bowl of scrambled eggs towards Scott. And that hand belonged to none other than the Green Giant himself, The Hulk.
But, this wasn't the normal Hulk. Hulk had a deep, DEEP voice, and accidentally broke things and didn't form full sentences.
And he DEFINITELY didn't wear clothes except for his pants. Or glasses!
But this wasn't JUST the Hulk. He had Bruce Banner's voice, his eyes, and more of his facial features. He almost looked...human! Minus the still height and the still largeness to him.
"This is so cool!" PJ whispered to Cassie from the booth next to them, while Cassie, who was sitting in a chair next to the Hulk...or Bruce, merely scrunched her face.
Cool wasn't exactly the word she'd use right now. Surprising, yes. Shocking, most definitely. But cool?...Okay, maybe a little bit cool. It was the Hulk, after all. But it was kinda confusing too.
"I am so confused." Scott bluntly stated, speaking her exact thoughts.
"These are confusing times." Bruce replied with a snicker at the end.
"No, no. I mean, that's not what I meant." Scott tried to correct himself, but Bruce caught him.
"I know, I'm-I'm kidding!" He exclaimed, looking at himself, "It's crazy! I'm wearing shirts now!"
"Yeah but, how? Why?"
Bruce wipes his mouth and put his napkin, which was more like a giant paper towel, down before he began to explain. "Ten years ago, we got our a**es beat. Except it was worse for me because I lost three times. First Hulk lost, then Banner lost...and then we ALL lost...we lost our friends."
"We don't blame you though, Uncle Bruce." Nikki stated.
"I did. After that, I felt really bad about it. Cause I felt like I could've done more. But I didn't. And then I had to take care of you guys."
Jamie and Nikki looked right at Bruce. They knew this story. Bruce had raised them, with Betty. And they'd visit with Azari T'Challa as well on occasion, and they're still friends to this day. To say the same about Torunn was uncertain since they hadn't really talked in almost five years. But they still considered her a friend.
"I didn't mind it." Bruce continued, "Not in the slightest...and it wasn't easy! Heh...but it was great."
This made Scott smile. He was happy that even though there was a great loss, there was some gain too. Jamie and Nikki, on the other hand, blushed in happiness. They were happy to have been raised by their Uncle Bruce. Even though he turned into a giant green Gamma monster.
"And we thank you for that, Uncle Bruce." Jamie replied.
"Anytime, bud. But like I said, it wasn't easy. But it gave me and Betty the chance that I didn't think we'd ever get. A family. Something I thought could never happen when you have gamma radiation in your blood stream...For years, I'd been treating the Hulk like he was some sort of disease. Something to get rid of...But then, I started looking at him as the cure."
Now, Scott, Jamie and Nikki were listening intently as to how Bruce got to his current state.
"Eighteen months in a gamma lab. I put the brains and the brawn together! And now look at me, best of both worlds!"
As he explained, a group of kids came up to Bruce with the smiles of a fan club.
"Excuse me, Mr. Hulk?" One of them, a girl, called.
Bruce turned and looked at them with a smile. One you didn't see too often from the Hulk. But he still responded kindly. "Yes?"
"Can we take a picture with you?"
"One hundred percent, little person! Come on, step on up."
Bruce took the phone they already had out and held it out to Scott. "Would you mind?"
"Oh yeah!" Scott took the phone, pulled up the camera and got up against the window of the booth seat to get all four of them in a picture.
"Ok, say 'Green!'" Bruce told them.
"GREEEEEEEEEEEN!" They all said in harmony as they looked at the camera.
"Did you get it?" Bruce asked, still posing just in case.
"Yup," Scott replied as he came back down. "Hey, you guys wanna get one with me? I'm Ant-Man!"
There was an awkward silence between them as the kids didn't really want to. But at the same time Bruce encouraged them to so as not to hurt Scott's feelings.
"It's ok," Scott said, not wanting to push them before this got TOO awkward, "You're Hulk fans. I get it. You don't know Ant-Man, it's ok. NO ONE does."
But Bruce, being the good person he was, still tried to encourage the kids to take a picture with him. But Scott kept trying to let it go. And seeing one of the kids shake his head 'No' at taking a picture with him was MORE THAN A ENOUGH confirmation.
"Take the frickin' phone!" He exclaimed subtly.
So the kids took it, that moment done with, and they thanked Bruce for taking the picture with them.
Jamie took a sip from his water after that awkward moment before he tried to get back to the conversation. "Uncle Bruce... Uncle Bruce!"
After pulling himself back together from doing a dab with the kids and reminding them to listen to their parents, he was back in the conversation. "Sorry, yeah!"
"Back to what you were saying, please?"
"Right. Uh, your whole time travel do over?...Not gonna lie, sounds like something out of a comic book. Or a 1980s sci-fi movie!" The Green Genius chuckled, "But looking at me, I got no room to talk. (sigh) Well guys, it's-it's outta my area of expertise."
Nikki shrugged at that. "Well you pulled this off. I remember when Aunt Betty said that that seemed almost impossible for you too."
Bruce smiled and nodded at that. "Well...if we did, we'd need someone who is smart in this area. Like 'has a degree' smart. Scott?"
Scott's head popped up at the mention of his name. "Yeah?"
"Now you know more about this Quantum Realm better than any of us at this table. That's one in. But, that's not enough. No offense."
"None taken."
"So do you know anyone else who could help us with this? Anyone at all?"
Scott thought really hard. And it wasn't easy since he didn't know many people who were great in this field of science. But after pondering the thought, he realized, there was someone!
"I think I've got it!" He stated.
"Who?" Jamie asked curiously.
"Well, to be honest, I don't know if he's still alive or not. But if he is, he may be the only one who could help us crack this."
"Who is it?!" Nikki exclaimed, getting slightly anxious.
Scott took a moment before answering, "Hank Pym's old S.H.I.E.L.D. partner. Bill Foster."
"I've heard of him." Bruce nodded, "His research on Quantum Phasing is really amazing. Where is he?"
"He teaches at Berkely in California. He wasn't there though. I stopped at his office and left a note, but we'll see what happens."
"Well, let's get to work." Nikki said, with a smirk.
"Alright, but we gotta wait for somebody first." Bruce stated before looking over to the counters behind them. "Hey, can I get a few to-go boxes please?"
"Who're we waiting for?" Cassie asked.
Just then, the bell at the entrance of the diner rang as the door opened, making everyone look towards it. Who they saw walking in was a teenage girl with beautiful dark skin looking around.
As soon as he saw her, Bruce immediately waved her over. "Viv, hey! Over here!"
She saw him and began walking over to the table.
As she did, the group all took notice of her attire. Aside from her lime green one-strapped backpack, she wore a maroon colored hoodie, blue jeans that hugged her legs, and a pair of Converses. But, her most outstanding feature was her hair. From her head to her shoulders were shiny streaks of black hair, but two streaks of colored hair in front. On the left was a light purple streak, and lime green on the right.
"Hey Dad!" She said with a smile.
"Dad?" they all repeated simultaneously, shocked and dumbfounded by what they just heard.
"Hey, honey!" Bruce replied as the girl pulled up a chair and sat next to him. He reached his large arm around and hugged her to him. "Glad you made it."
The girl, still smiling, leaned into the hug and returned it.
"Who's she?" PJ asked.
"Guys, this is Viv. Viv, this is-"
"Jamie and Nikki Rogers." She said, finishing Bruce's words. She reached out and shook Jamie and Nikki's hands. "Nice to finally meet you guys."
"Nice to meet you too." "Hi." The twins replied.
They shook her hand, but were a bit dumbfounded at how this girl knew their names instantly. Maybe Bruce told her?
"And this is Scott Lang and his kids, Cassie and PJ."
Viv nodded at Scott and his kids. "Mr. Lang. Guys."
Cassie and PJ waved and nodded at this mysterious girl.
"Oh, just Scott is fine." Scott kindly corrected Viv. After that, there was a moment of silence before Scott spoke the obvious question on all of their minds.
But Cassie beat him to the punch. "I'm sorry, did she call you 'Dad'?"
Bruce chuckled at that and began to explain. "Yeah, she did. Viv is my adoptive daughter."
That shocked them, mainly Jamie and Nikki.
"How're we just hearing about this?" Nikki asked curiously, "I mean, no offense, Viv, but this is a bit of a shock."
"Oh, I can imagine." Viv replied understandably. "But to be honest, this was a surprise for me as well. I wasn't expecting to meet you all today, it was last minute. So I apologize for any inconvenience or discomfort I may have caused."
Right away, Jamie could sense a little remorse in Viv's voice. Nikki could too, as did Scott and his kids. They didn't mean for her to feel like a nuisance or want her to feel uncomfortable herself. From what they could tell, Viv was a likable person. And if Bruce trusted her and considered her his daughter, that was enough for them.
Nikki leaned forward and put a hand on her arm. "We're glad to meet you too, Viv. And if Uncle Bruce calls you his daughter, then that makes you family."
"And for us, family is everything." Jamie added.
Any nervous feelings that Viv has went away at hearing those words. Her smile returned once again as she thanked them.
Deciding to take the reigns on it, Cassie spoke up next. "I really like your hair colors."
Viv smiled at her kind comment. "Thanks. Believe it or not, they're actually real."
They continued to converse for a while before Bruce's to-go boxes came and they packed up. When they were all ready to go, they headed out, ready to get to work.
Well, what do you think of that twist?! Bruce is here and we now have been introduced to Viv Vision as well. But they don't know she's not human...but they will. ;)
And Scott mentioned Bill Foster from Ant-Man And The Wasp. Now, I loved Endgame, don't get me wrong. But I just really thought that Bill could help the Avengers since he was the only person left who was an expert on Quantum Physics. Although, idk if he was Snapped away or not, I still see him as an asset. So get ready to see him!
Ok, next chapter will be up soon. So stick around and I'll see ya next chapter! NinjaBoy OUT!
