Bruce rounded the corner and found the front gate with no soldiers in sight. As he approached he heard the chopper get closer, it passed over his head and landed just on the other side of the gate. "Damn it" he said to himself as he turned his head looking for somewhere to hide. He spun knowing he was running out of time, until he spotted a man, a man wearing some kind of old armor with green cloth, the man had jet black hair and was looking at Bruce as if he was studying him. Bruce felt uneasy under this man's gaze but he found himself approaching him with caution.
Loki needed to see it himself, the monster that had the whole nine realms talking. He was surprised at first, to see such a weak mortal holding the beast within himself. The humans could not stop the creature, even Asgard would have trouble containing the monsters rage but Loki needed to see it and he needed to test out a theory.
Bruce watched the green eyes of his watcher as he came face to face with the man who began to smile. "Who are you?" Bruce asked, Loki didn't speak he simply smiled. He was too quick for Bruce as he rose his hand latched it around Bruce's throat, he lifted him into the air and stared intently into his eyes. Bruce felt the air leaving his lungs and his pain caused him to lose the control he had been working on for so many months. Loki watched as Bruce's eyes started to turn green and his body began contort and grow. Loki released him and stepped back to watch from a distance.
The burning, was the worst part feeling as though you might burst into flame at any second. His muscles grew along with his stature to the near the height of a frost giant, his skin began to change to a shade of green, when the beast stopped growing it looked over to the eyes of Loki who was intrigued. It turned and yelled at the top of its lungs.
Ross was arranging his men preparing to enter the temple and take Banner without incident when he heard the roar, he needed to move right now. "Breach the gate we are out of time" he said as his men got into position.
Loki watched carefully as the beast sized him up, when it did charge Loki put his hand and yelled "Stop!" The monster stopped in its tracks with a confused look on its face. Loki smiled knowing that he had been right and that the mind of the monster was weak and easy to control. He was about to speak when an explosion destroyed the front gate, several humans armed with guns entered and took positions behind cover.
"Take him down" shouted Ross as his men opened fire on the creature who was still staring intently at Loki.
Loki smiled, he could leave the monster in this state and let the humans kill it but it could prove useful down the road so Loki made the easy choice. He looked deep into the monsters eyes and gave it one order "Kill them."
General Ross's men had put four or five magazines into the beast when the man next to him said something. In almost an instant Banner turned and began to attack his men with furious power. Ross watched the man disappear into thin air as Banner began to decimate his men. Some tried to fight back but were soon rendered motionless behind the power of the beast. Ross watched in horror as some of his best men thrown all-around of him until one hit him in his chest and sent him flying into a pile destroyed wood that had once been a building. He could not see anything but he heard some small arms fire until suddenly it went completely silent.
The monster looked around making sure the job was done before launching itself into the air hoping to escape the area. It was bounding through the woods when it began to look around at its surroundings. The woods were quiet and peaceful unlike the temple it had left behind, visions of the man filled its head. It was about to sit down when it smelled the sea which prompted its curiosity as it began to head in the direction of the smell. It soon landed on a beach and walked into surf and let the water wash over its feet. The sound of the waves coming in and out soothed the monsters rage causing it to fall to its knees. Steam began to rise of its body as it shrunk back to little Bruce Banner.
Ross managed to pull himself out of the wreckage and surveyed the damage and realized it was catastrophic only a few men were still breathing. He called his backup and requested an immediate medical evacuation. He spent the time waiting for the chopper stabilizing the men who were grasping onto life. The chopper arrived quickly and started loading the injured and the dead. While another chopper came to get Ross "Sir, the council wants to speak with you" the woman who was sitting in the chopper said as he strapped in. Ross knew things were about to get dicey.
Bruce scanned the shore for any signs of life, he had managed to reach the Japanese coast but he wasn't sure where exactly. His transformations had gotten easier to withstand physically but his inability to remember the exact events that occur while he is the monster is what bothered him the most. He would get flashes of what happened, the violence, the anger, all the destruction, as well as the quiet moments like noticing a wonderful view or the soothing smell of an ocean. The memories of peace were what scared Bruce the most since he could never be sure if they were real or if his mind was filling in the gaps and if his subconscious was hiding something truly terrible. He pulled what was left of his pants up and held them as he walked along the waterline hoping for some signs of life while he tried to figure out what his next step was going to be.
Ross stepped out of the chopper and was quickly moved into a large room with several screens. He looked himself over to make sure he looked somewhat presentable to his superiors when he heard the door open behind him. He turned to spot Nick Fury walking into the room to stand next to him. Fury was similar height to Ross but was a little more lean and defined than he was, the eye patch over his eye was from a mission from many years earlier and he always was wearing his suit and long leather coat. Ross and Fury had gone head to head immediately following Banner's escape from New York, the two men argued over who should track him down and bring him in which led to the both of them taking their own approaches which often led to them both having operations at the same place and the same time which usually allowed for Banner to escape sometimes without incident while others led to major city centers being demolished in the process. Ross looked Fury over "So you're here too" said Ross matter of factly trying to figure out the purpose of this meeting.
"They want to discuss something with us" replied Fury obviously annoyed to have to be there.
The screen flickered on and five people appeared in front of them with their faces obscured in darkness "Gentlemen, I think you both have an idea as to why you are here" stated a male voice that came from the middle screen. Ross and Fury knew that they were going to be discussing Banner and how best to handle his situation.
"Sir, I think that it has been proven that all General Ross and his men have succeeded in doing is creating a dangerous situation with Banner" stated Fury hoping that he could convince the council to give him complete control of bringing Banner in. He knew that Banner could be reasoned with and put in a situation that would be safe for everyone. He felt that for Ross it had become personal, he was in charge of Banner's research and the accident happened under his watch and his men had more often than not screwed up any Shield operations to capture Banner.
"Sir, Need I remind you that Shield are the ones who failed to contain Banner in New York and in that town in Canada" stated Ross switching the blame back on Fury's decisions.
The two continued to come up with reasons for the others incompetence when they were silenced by the middle screen again "We have decided that the two of you working separately is hindering the operation we are giving Ross the job of capturing Banner, Fury you are to return to regular day to day operation at Shield and focus on containing Hydra and other threats, you will also provide Ross with everything he needs including the use of your operating systems. General Ross, you have a blank check get who you want and whatever tech you need and we expect results" the man on the middle screen ordered as the screens turned off and the men began to walk out.
"When will I have access to your systems?" asked Ross interested in seeing what the vaunted Shield database could provide him.
"Immediately" said Fury walking away and pulling out his phone to find Coulson on the other end. "Yes. they gave control to Ross, Get Barton and Romanoff in house for a briefing and I'm afraid that the Avengers Initiative may need to be shelved for the time being...things have taken a turn that will take time to mend. Move ahead with Phase two." Coulson started to remind Fury of the dangers but was soon cut off. "I know but we no longer have a choice" stated Fury as he approached the chopper that had brought him to the base.