Creation began on 10-19-11

Creation ended on 02-02-21

Hulk

Letting go of regrets: Beginning

A/N: It takes place after the end of Hulk: The End. I don't think it should've ended like that. Yes, the Hulk is dangerous to anything that gets in his way, but he deserves just as much happiness as the people around him obtain when they died before the story started. And more importantly, this is for Bruce Banner and Jarella for different reasons: One is that I still believe that Bruce's alive inside the Hulk, and two is because, if what Bruce said to Hulk was true, then it meant that Jarella was also waiting for him to come to the paradise all their friends had gone to. I shall let Brother Correction attempt the near-impossible: Getting the Hulk to let go of his conflicts and desires to be the 'strongest one there is'. Here we go now!

"…Hulk…feels cold," said the Hulk, looking out at the vast, nothingness of the night.

"…Hulk…" A voice echoed out to the Hulk. "Hulk… This isn't the way it should be."

The green giant turned around and saw a young man as dark as the world around them. He was dressed in the attire of monk with bits of armor around his shoulders and torso, over the robes, and his eyes were the darkest there ever was.

"Hulk…is strongest there is!" Hulk yelled at the man, who stood still and blinked a few times to moist his eyes.

Then the man sat down and responded with, "Yes, that's true. You are the strongest. You can't be defeated, no matter what…but who are you trying to prove that to? To the world? Yourself? Hulk, look around you. What do you see? Who do you really see? All I can see is you, the only one there is left alive on the planet that once held an abundance of life, beautiful places, people that could care, could love…and even accept you. Do you even remember any of the people that cared about you? Forget about the Avengers, forget about the military, forget about the whole world…but think only of the few that wouldn't sink so low as to hurt you."

"Hulk has no one!" Hulk told the man.

"That's not true, Hulk. What about Jarella? Didn't she care about you?"

Hulk's angry face then slowly softened. His recollection of the green-skinned woman resurfaced in his mind, reminding him of the day he wind up in the K'ai Kingdom and met the people that seemed just like himself. They were the only ones that, for the first time in his existence, never feared him or wanted to hurt him.

"Banner cared about her," the Hulk tried to ignore the memories of the K'ai ruler. "Banner did."

"You're wrong, Hulk," he told him. "She cared about you…just as much as she cared about Banner. She loved the both of you because you were one in the same person. Jarella's the only person in all the worlds I've ever been to, ever heard of, that was the most unique woman to love someone like you, without any conditions. Unconditionally. She was absolutely willing to accept you, in, however, any way she could, be it you as yourself right now…or your body with Banner's consciousness in control…or your consciousness in control of Banner's body. It didn't matter to her because she loved you for all that you are, that you were, for better or for worse."

The man got back up and walked away from the Hulk.

"Think about her, Hulk!" He shouted out, climbing down the cave. "Think about her, about Betty, Caiera and everyone else that didn't see you as some sort of monster without a shred of hope. At the ends of the world, everyone's entitled to enter the paradise that awaits them upon their death…even someone like you."

Hulk sat there and watched as the man walked across the vast nothingness of the wasteland. He remembered Banner; despite his claim of getting rid of the 'puny human', as he more than once called him, the genius man still resided within Hulk, only pushed to the very bottom of his psyche where he couldn't cause him trouble, making Banner a virtual prisoner within the strongest person that ever lived. Thus, the green giant still carried his past memories, including the ones that brought happiness to the scientist. There was even a woman that Hulk had never met before because she was before his time. This…Rebecca Banner, Bruce's mother. Her death at the hands of his father, Brian Banner, had caused some degree of emotional issues that were part of the reason Hulk existed.

"Hulk…sees her face," Hulk uttered, imagining Rebecca with a much younger version of Bruce in front of him.

-x-

It must've been several hours by the time the Hulk found himself laying on the ground; what was time to someone that had a semblance of immortality due to the gamma radiation that his body constantly generated? For the longest time in his loneliness, Hulk thought about the women that had cared about him, that he found himself caring about. There was Betty, driven by a desire, an urge, to protect her from danger, and she was the only human to have ever been able calm him down. Then, there was Caiera, the alien woman that he fought against on Sakaar when it was under the reign of the Red King, who started to understand him among the scattered aliens that lived on the planet. And before her, there was Jarella, probably the most unique woman he or Bruce had ever met in their shared life, who simply loved the entirety of the person they were, even if the Hulk viewed Banner as a separate identity, another person that was simply a puny human with emotional issues.

"Green girl care for Hulk," he uttered to himself.

It was raining outside the cave he was in, with thunder and lightning roaring and clashing with strong winds that would level forests…if there were any left.

"Urgh!" Hulk heard somebody outside his cave, and looked out at the opening, seeing the same man that he had met earlier, climbing up from the bottom, soaked to the bone. "Don't mind me, Hulk. Just looking for some shelter from the rain."

Hulk didn't do anything and allowed him to step into the cave, sitting on the ground and removing the pieces of armor from his body. The man also possessed some small items that the Hulk took notice of: There was a sword, a red stone and a coin carried in a glass case.

"Some of the most dangerous relics from a previous adventure," he told the Hulk, explaining their presence. "Whoever wields them are bestowed certain powers, but they're like parasites. These came from a set of thirteen talismans that, if brought together, could spell disaster for the universe they resided in. Separately, they could only guide the inhabitants of their universe toward different paths, but if brought together, they could end it and begin it anew…for whoever wanted to change the world to their liking. I took these talismans because they were among the most dangerous ones…and to disrupt the balance they had over the universe. Now, without all thirteen, whoever seeks to destroy and remake the universe…cannot do so."

"What of this world?" Hulk asked him.

"There's no point in trying to destroy this one, Hulk…for there is nothing left to destroy. No buildings left to decimate, no lives left to take, no wealth to be amassed, and no weapons to ensure domination. It's a dead world. Some life still lingers, but it's only remnants of vegetation that will wither away because the soil and oceans can no longer support them. The only other traces of life that still linger…are yourself and I, who is nothing more than a traveler, a passerby, a transient guest blessed and cursed to help those that can, should, and need to be saved from the dark times."

Building a small fire, the dark stranger placed his hands in front of the warmth of the flames.

"Where did you go?" Hulk asked him.

"Not that far," he answered. "Where Mexico used to reside…and then Nevada. There's nothing left of either place to indicate that anyone was ever there. No cities, no statues, no nothing. This world is among those realms listed in my catalog of places that have seen better days."

A flash of lightning came and blinded the two for a second.

"Nothing exists out there," Hulk stated.

"Nothing that is worth going out there for, anyway," the stranger responded, and took out something else from the folds of his robes, revealing that it was a small parcel of sandwiches. "Hungry, Hulk?"

Hulk merely nodded in the negative; such a need was next to nonexistent for Hulk, as he didn't need to eat or drink or even breathe due to his reactive adaptation.

…Hulk… He heard Banner's voice in his head. Hulk…Hulk…

"Grr," he grumbled.

"What's wrong with you?" The stranger asked.

"Banner again."

"Bruce Banner?"

"Hmm…"

"You should know…that you can't get rid of him, no matter what you say or do."

"I did get rid of Banner!"

"If you're hearing him in your head, then it's only due to one of two possibilities, and neither one does you any actual good. One is because you feel guilty deep down in your subconscious for thinking you got rid of him."

"And what is the other?"

Hulk!

"You didn't get rid of him, but instead pushed him to the very bottom of your own consciousness. In other words, you put him in the back seat or the trunk of the car, locked him in the closet of your house, buried him in a cave where he can't see the light, whatever version you want to go with where you just took control of your shared life. You pushed him to the bottom so you can be alone at the top…except he's still there…and he can't go anywhere."

"He can go."

"No, he can't go. He's stuck in a purgatorial state…and you're the one that put him there. Hulk, you…are his purgatory. He can't move on so long as you refuse to let him go…and you won't let him go because you think embracing death makes you weak when it doesn't."

"So long as Hulk lives, Hulk beats Death!"

"Wrong, Hulk (he then takes a bite out of his sandwich). No one, and I mean no one, can beat Death. Death is a part of nature, a part of the universe, of multiple universes. Death helps to keep order within all existence. It reminds us of just how important the ones we value above ourselves are after they're gone. Just because you think dying makes you weak is what makes your fear of the next life all the more prominent to those that can see. Even a blind man can see that you're afraid of going to where everyone went when the world ended. And I gotta tell you, Hulk…dying…isn't all that terrifying as most want to believe it is. Dying, meeting with Death…is not the end of your existence. It's just taking a stop for a minute or two…just enough to catch your breath and reflect upon your past…and then taking the next step into the unknown that awaits you. And the best part of it all? Everyone gets a clean slate. Everyone gets a happy ending. No more hate and betrayal. No more misery and loneliness. Someone that can't accept the end, struggling with every fiber of their being just to avoid the end…is no different from an immortal that spends all their time upon a mountain top or in a cave they refuse to leave; they can't relate to the world they live in or the people around them."

"Hulk refuses to admit defeat! Hulk is strongest there is!"

The man just continued to eat his sandwich and feed his stomach.

"Are you really?" He then asked Hulk. "Are you really the strongest there is?"

"There is no one stronger than Hulk!"

"Then…what is there left to prove, Hulk? Who is there left to prove? Look around you, Hulk, excluding the mutant cockroaches here and there, there's nobody left to prove anything to. Hmm? Where's Iron Man? Where's Captain America? Or the Falcon? Vision? Doctor Strange? Juggernaut? Thunderbolt Ross? Who is there to prove that you're the strongest? They're all dead, Hulk. They're all in paradise that's beyond the veil of mortality. They're all just embracing the peace they got upon their final breaths of life. They don't care what you think, anymore. They stopped caring when they realized they didn't need to fight anyone for anything else, anymore. Hell, even your family stopped caring about your need to prove that you were the strongest, because now that's history. They're all gone, but you're still here, still fighting a meaningless fight with a nonexistent foe. You said it yourself before, Hulk. You're the only one there is…and that's a cold truth you can't escape from so long as you refuse to let go of your hate, your distrust. When the rain lets up, I'll show you why you should stop fighting. I'll be your opponent. I'm not just a transient traveler going from one place to the next. I'm someone you won't be able to beat when I get serious."

-x-

Hulk never let the stranger out of his sight. He didn't trust him as far as he could tolerate him, and that wasn't much, either. He was a threat to the Hulk's status as the strongest, and he needed to defend his status. Hulk needed to prove once more that he was the strongest, no one else. Only Hulk was the strongest.

Hulk! He continued to hear Banner's voice in his head. Hulk!

"He's stuck in a purgatorial state…and you're the one that put him there. Hulk, you…are his purgatory." The stranger's voice echoed in his mind. "You are his purgatory."

But Hulk didn't believe this. If anything, Banner was his purgatory; submitting to Banner meant dying, and dying meant admitting that he was weak. And Hulk wasn't weak.

"What about Jarella? Didn't she care about you?"

Hulk barely remembered Jarella, just as he barely remembered Betty or any other female that claimed to care about him. They were all the same to him; sooner or later, they would betray him. In the end, they would always betray him.

The stranger merely slept as Hulk continued to watch him, just in case he tried something.

He is persistent, thought Brother Correction as he felt his consciousness slip from his mortal vessel and into the astral plane…where he met with the three great loves of both Bruce Banner and Hulk. My apologies. Hulk…or at least this incarnation of him…will not relent through subtlety. If I'm to free him and Bruce from this state of suffering, I will have to use force.

Please, went Betty, Caiera and Jarella to him, save them both.

He bowed his head to them as he swore to do so; as much as he could've simply undone all of the devastation caused to the planet, there was no point in doing so. This was a sad chapter that needed to end on a positive note. Everyone else except for Banner and the Hulk were dead, and everyone that knew and cared for either one of or both of them…were waiting for them to cross the threshold into paradise where peace awaited them. But Hulk was proving to be stubborn as any other person that feared what lied beyond the veil of death when there was hardly anything to fear about dying.

Even Prometheus eventually perished and took his place among the other Titans in the afterlife, Brother Correction thought as he returned to the waking world, seeing that the rain had finally stopped. He was prohibited from dying as an eagle sent by Zeus ate his liver, time and again whilst he was bound to a boulder, but then Zeus permitted the hero Heracles to free him from his eternal punishment for gifting mankind with fire. Banner and Hulk are like Prometheus; both need to be free from their torment, but are holding each other back. Where there's darkness, there is despair, but when you can find light in the darkness, you will find hope.

To be continued…

A/N: This was originally meant to be a one-shot, but now a second chapter will be made. I don't know if anyone else made a what-if scenario in which something happened after Hulk was left alone where he was after declaring that he wanted to be left alone, but I do hope this helps to inspire others. Wait for the next chapter, yo!