My entire body feels like shit and for a guy like me that's really saying something.
Creel was gone, having let go of me after absorbing a ton of my strength in midair. I blacked out during the fall and when I came to I found myself sprawled out in the middle of a church. Of all the places I could have impacted in the desert, I slammed right into a church. Irony? You damn right it is.
That punk with the wrecking ball really worked me over good. So far I knew that Mister G, the owner of the Starlight, had hired him and set me up. Can't blame the guy seeing as how I double-crossed him first. Creel was somehow able to siphon off my power and use it against me, something I wish I had known before I had grabbed him and lobbed us into the air.
I was seriously out of it, in big time pain, and as much as it pissed me off to admit it, I needed help. I don't have to tell you how often I ask for help. It's not like there're a lot of people I could call, and even then, not many of them would actually try to help me.
Some days it just ain't worth getting out of bed.
THE HULK: VEGAS GRAY
Chapter Three
Written by D. Golightly
"You must be the dumbest schmuck to ever come through Las Vegas."
Marlo had a way with words. She got out here quicker than I had expected, which given that she had even answered the phone at all, was a surprise times two. Her red hair stood out against the dark background of the church's front and only entrance, reminding me of just how damn sexy she was.
"Never said I was a genius," I replied, wincing through the pain.
"Yeah, well, I must be an idiot for coming here so that makes two of us."
Despite the fact that this old place didn't look like much there was a working phone in the back, which I had been able to crawl to eventually. The only person I could have called and had a chance to getting any help from was Marlo, seeing as how I the Starlight's guys probably hated my guts for switching sides and Price's goons weren't too fond of me. She was the only person I knew in Vegas that didn't want to kill me.
"Damn, Joe, you look like shit. You're lucky I decided to give you a break today."
Okay, maybe she wasn't too fond of me but at least she was here. I had propped myself up against the pulpit to try and let some of the pressure off of my ribs. The fall had broken a few of them and it hurt like hell. Creel hadn't sucked all my juice out, though. I could feel the bones beginning to mend and every second that passed I felt a little stronger. I just needed time.
"You're looking good, as always," I told her. I leveled my eyes with hers, something that always made her turn away. This time she stared back at me.
"What do you want, Joe?"
I blinked. "Ain't it obvious? I'm hurt bad, Marlo. I'm healing but until then I need a pair o' eyes in case they come for me."
"Who?"
"I pissed off my old boss and he'll probably be sending some guys out to make sure I'm dead. Ya see, this ape of a guy named Creel—"
"Crusher Creel?"
"Yeah," I answered without bothering to hide the surprise in my voice. "How'd you know?"
"Jesus, Joe. Don't you watch the news? Creel is a wanted murderer, last scene heading for Las Vegas. It's been on the front page of all the papers since last week. He broke out of some military transport on his way to the federal pen."
"I don't have much chance to read."
She snorted and wrinkled her nose up at me. "Of course not. So, let me get this straight. You think there's a pack of killers coming to find you to make sure you're dead, and even though you'll probably be on your feet soon you called me to be a look-out."
"Pretty much."
"You selfish bastard! You don't even care that there might be dangerous gangsters on there way right now, not to mention an escaped felon is running loose nearby. You just wanted me out here in an effort to get sympathy. What did you think was going to happen, Joe? Huh? Was I supposed to see you lying there, get all teary-eyed, and rip my clothes off to comfort you? Was that how you pictured it, you disgusting prick?"
She was breathing heavier and her eyes were bulging slightly. She was royally pissed off. I've heard about "a woman scorned" and all that, but it looked like I was experiencing it firsthand. To make matters worse, her guess about my intentions was spot-on.
"Of course not," I lied. Shit.
"Fuck you, Joe."
She turned to leave with a flip of her long hair. I leaned forward and reached out with my arm, which quickly shot rivers of pain through my chest. I fell back against the pulpit, cracking the wood. "Just…just wait…" I managed to mutter.
"You know, I actually came out here thinking you really needed my help. I honestly tried to forget all the annoying phone calls and late night visits, Joe. I thought that you were half-dead and needed someone to trust. Turns out you're only thinking about yourself, again. You don't care about me or anyone else but yourself. Stay away from me, Joe. I mean it. Stay the fuck away."
She slipped back out of the church and I heard her car door open and close. The engine revved to life and she drove off, leaving me alone with nothing but a semi-guilty conscience.
"You're never going to change, are you?"
I must have slipped off into a daze after Marlo left. I had no idea how long I was out but I didn't remember hearing anyone walk in. With the hardwood floor the footsteps would be hard to miss, but whoever was talking to me hadn't made a sound. That wasn't good.
"Change what?" I asked. If I kept him talking I could probably find out where he was. "My boyish good looks? My winning personality?"
"Personality," the guy said, almost sarcastically. "How ironic. What would you know about personality? You only concentrate on what you want for yourself, without regard to others. I wonder which is stronger: your physique or your psyche?"
His words were becoming more and more clear as I cleared my head and concentrated. I recognized that voice. There was only one arrogant bastard that talked to me like that. Just one man in existence that could literally get under my skin and peel back my layers.
"Banner."
A pair of tiny hands clapped together in mock appreciation. I turned my head and saw the man I hated most in the world, Dr. Bruce Banner. "Bravo," he said once he stopped the irritating clapping. "I admit, I didn't really think you would figure it out. You're not the sharpest tool in the shed, Hulk."
"My name's Joe Fixit."
"Right, right." He stepped out of the shadows and adjusted his nerdy glasses. God, I wanted to cave his little weasel face in. "Fixit. You always had more humor than the others. Smarter, too. Well, not smarter than all of them, but you get what I mean."
"What the fuck are you doing here, Banner?"
"Am I here? Really this is all just taking place inside of your mind. Well, my mind. Our mind."
"Screw you. None o' this matters. Your psycho-babble don't mean jack shit to me and you know it. So, say what you got to say and then take a hike."
Banner took another few steps closer, his wiry frame looking like it was ready to blow away in the soft breeze. Just looking at the creep disgusted me. To think that I spawned from him made me want to vomit. It drove me nuts to know that deep inside of me he was begging to get out and take back control of our body. I hate these mental lapses I get.
"I just wanted to take advantage of your situation," Banner said. "It's not often I'm better off than the Hulk."
"That ain't my name, little man."
"Right, right. What's in a name, anyway? You are who you are. The point is that we can help each other."
"What makes you think I need you? I'll be fine in an hour."
"Creel's absorption powers do appear to only be temporary, but what will you do when you gain your strength back?" The scientist smirked and took his glass off, wiping them with the edge of his sleeve. "You obviously can't confront him physically or you'll be right back where you started. No, you'll need to outthink this savage. That's where I come in, Mister Fixit. The Hulk isn't known for being a quick thinker."
"What do you get out of this?"
"Survival, mostly. I've made a deal with our other selves."
Just behind him two more people stepped out of the shadows. To call them people is sort of an insult, seeing as how they were more like me than they were puny humans. They were both green but one was taller than the other and carried himself more appropriately. The shorter one was drooling carelessly on the floor and I could see unbridled rage behind his eyes.
Two other version of me, the Hulk. One filled with primal savagery and the other almost as strong but just as smart as Banner himself. I nearly shit myself once I saw them.
"You're reckless, Joe," the taller one said. "We're in agreement. You need to be stopped. The Professor and I will take it from here and our savage friend is to ensure we you're your support. Step aside and let me handle this."
"Ugly gray man not stronger than Hulk!" the drooling one screamed. The veins around his neck were throbbing with every word he spoke. "Hulk is strongest one there is! Hulk smash gray man!"
"Easy," the taller me said. He placed a hand on the savage me and that seemed to calm him a little, at least enough to not start thrashing around. "Do it, Banner, before the beast here is the one that takes control."
"Joe," Banner spoke up, "Let me to the surface. You can't do this as you are. Creel is too much, and who knows what else your former employer has waiting? He sucker-punched you once and he can do it again. The man has vast resources—"
"Oh, like you could do anything to stop him," I accused, stepping over his words. "You're nothing! All of you ain't nothing compared to me!"
"This is pointless," the taller one said to Banner. "He's too stubborn. We should have just overpowered him from the beginning."
"Hulk tear gray man's arms off!"
The shorter little asshole slapped the green hand off his shoulder and launched his stumpy body right at me. I managed to raise an arm to block him, something I immediately wished I hadn't done. He sunk his mammoth teeth straight into my arm, screaming the entire time. He closed his jaw down hard and broke the skin. I threw my head back in surprise and tried to rip my arm free but I couldn't shake him.
"Stop!" the taller one commanded. He raced forward and put the savage me in a choke hold, trying to get him to let go. I almost wished he hadn't since it only seemed to egg the little bastard on.
I got sight of Banner in the background with a horrified look on his face. He better be scared, 'cause when I got out of this mess I was going to strangle the life out of him.
I slammed my free fist against the green beast's head, boxing his ear. I threw everything I had into the blow and his ears must have been ringing something fierce. He finally let up on my arm, thanks mostly to the taller me cutting off his air. Feeling a little better now that there was some fight apparently left in me, I rolled forward onto my feet and head butted the shorter one square in his forehead. He screamed out in pain as much as he could with the taller me cutting his air off.
I began to pound the living daylights out of the brute, aiming mostly for his chest and abdomen. The bastard was stronger than me by far but that didn't mean I couldn't put a good hurtin' on him.
"Wait!" taller me yelled after a few moments. "You'll only—"
A left cross right into his kisser shut his mouth long enough for me to drive my knee into the runt's groin. The two of them stopped fighting each other, stunned for different reasons, and broke apart. I took the opportunity for all it was worth and clocked the savage me as hard as I could. He stumbled back into the taller one, tripping over his fat feet.
Banner started to panic. "Stop him, Professor! He mustn't gain control again!"
The taller me, apparently the Professor, shot a quick glance over to Banner with a worried look on his face. I jumped a few feet into the air and threw all of my weight into my feet as I crunched down onto the runt, snapping several of his ribs. His face contorted strangely and then I'll be damned if he didn't just disappear in a puff of green smoke.
The Professor caught me around the waste in a perfect tackle. We tumbled to the ground with his iron grip around me, holding me in place on the ground. Even though he was at least a foot taller than me his face was pressed up against my chest from the odd angle he held me at.
"Just give it up, Joe," the Professor said. "You know that Banner and I are your best bet to get out of this alive. If you take this any further by yourself then people will get hurt. Marlo will get hurt."
Hearing him say her name shot my adrenaline through the roof. I always get what I want and I'll be damned if this jolly green puke stain was going to take it away from me. For a second when he first showed up I thought that maybe he was just a green version of me, but now I see him for what he really is: Banner wrapped in muscles.
I hate Banner.
My anger soared, giving me a good dose of whatever power was available coupled with my burning desire to flatten this guy. I wedged my right hand in front of his face and pushed it out far enough for my other hand to grasp it. I held him steady by the cheeks and said, "Go to Hell."
I shoved my thumbs into his eye sockets. He jerked back but I held him tight, pressing my bulky fingers deeper into his skull. His arms dropped down for a split second before grabbing my wrists and yanking my hands away. He was still stronger than me but that didn't matter; the damage had been done.
Blood poured out of his face as he fell to his knees wailing. I slapped the top of his head and knocked him off balance, sending him to the floor in a big heap. If he still had eyes he would have soiled himself at the sight of my size fifteens about to stomp down on his face.
The Professor was beaten, and like his little buddy, evaporated into a puff of green smoke. That just left Banner.
"Get ready to die, little man," I said, but he was gone. Banner had flown the coup like the chicken that he was.
I stood up to my full height, reinvigorated and ready to kick some ass. I wasn't even breathing hard, although since the fight had probably just been inside my head, that made sense.
One thing you never do is make Joe Fixit angry, and Mister G had pushed my buttons. One way or the other he was going down tonight and I didn't care if I went with him. If I had it in me to kill a part of myself then a puny human should be no trouble at all.
He picked the wrong Hulk to mess with.
CONCLUDED IN CHAPTER FOUR