Chapter Four
"Please, Ms. Walters. I can help. I won't do anything more than is absolutely necessary."
Jennifer looked to her. "Okay, but if anything happens to the boy, beside recovery, you will answer to me."
Carly rushed over and knelt beside the boy, let her creepers find him. She could feel the illness, gripping him with tendrils of death. He had so little strength that she had to find another source, but she could only turn to herself. As she sucked out the disease, she gave a tiny piece of her life force to him. Almost instantly, she started coughing. The illness seized her, forced her to fall over. She clutched her throat, gasped. The world spun and went dark.
Carly awoke in a bed in a strange room. Jennifer Walters hovered over her. "Good. You're awake. May I ask you something?"
Carly drew in a breath. Her lungs were clear again. "Sure. Is the boy okay?"
"He's fine. Thank you. Now. Why are in this jungle?"
Carly looked around. They weren't in the clinic anymore. She'd been moved. She tried to rise, but found herself shackled. There was a S.H.I.E.L.D. insignia on the cuffs.
The woman leaned close. "I know who you are, and who you work for." Jennifer held up an iPad, also with S.H.I.E.L.D. insignia on the cover. "I have satellite internet. Slow, but it works. This is what I'm going to do. I'm going to put you on a truck. That truck will take you to S.H.I.E.L.D., and you will answer for your crimes."
Carly closed her eyes. She paid for them, every day that she had to wear a body of vines. But no repentance could make up for what she did. "I don't want to hurt you, but please reconsider."
"I'm sorry. I really don't need you around this jungle right now."
"You owe me. I helped that boy."
"And I appreciate it. And I'll testify to the fact at your trial. But that doesn't make up for everything else you've done."
"I don't need a damn lecture from you."
Carly struggled against her bonds. She could break them in a snap. But she learned a bit about spy craft. Nothing's more dangerous than a prisoner. You think just because you captured them that they can't hurt you. She flopped in mock frustration.
"Fine. You win."
The woman smiled. She pulled out a syringe from a bag, uncapped it.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa. What is that?"
"Just something to keep you asleep on the trip. I'm aware of your powers. These bonds wouldn't hold you for long."
The tip of the needle approached Carly's neck. "Don't! You're going to make me angry. You won't like that."
The woman hesitated, chuckled. "I think you stole that line."
The needle plunged into Carly's neck. The world began to swirl.
"Life," she gasped. "I need life." The Hydra inside her awoke, panicked. Her powers reached out, grabbed the life around her, tried to fight the drug. The woman's face grew gaunt, she grabbed her throat, fell to her knees.
"Stop! Stop!" Jennifer held up her hand. She looked at Carly, her eyes suddenly bright green. "Ahhh!"
The drug dissipated. Carly grew her wrists and legs until the bonds snapped.
The doctor's face turned green, her hair transformed into a shock of jade. Muscles bulged across her body.
"Ms. Walters!" Carly rolled off the cot and backed away. A monster formed in front of her, seven feet talk, the lab coat splitting and falling away, the stretchy undergarments the only thing remaining.
The Green Monster screamed, raised its fists, then stared at Carly with red-rimmed eyes of pure hate.
"Shit," said Carly. She backed off, but the monster jumped at her, slammed her right in the face with a fist, driving her through the flimsy wall, right out into the street.
Carly's vines waved like crazy, trying to find purchase in the ground. She spat out a tooth. "Dammit!"
Just as she was about to rise, the monster stomped on her gut, forcing the air out. Carly couldn't breathe. Giant hands found her throat, squeezed her neck. Carly send her own vines to try to strangle the monster, but the beast just ripped them away like they were nothing.
This thing was nothing earthly. The monster's power came from something else, not the same source as Carly's. There was nothing she could do to affect the monster, it was impervious to her powers. No bursting this creature's heart.
It head-butted Carly, then threw her across the street where she collided with a hay cart.
Carly flopped to the ground, rage and anger growing. And pain. That hurt. The Monster jumped to her, but Carly rolled away. The monster roared, beat its chest like a gorilla. It charged. Carly turned to run, but it caught her, grabbed an arm, and tossed her like a doll, right over the houses, and into the edge of the forest.
Finally, Carly was in her element. She slipped further into the jungle. The beast pursued her, jumping clear over the huts to follow her. Carly spread her arms, and vines attacked the monster.
The beast fought with a fury, ripping away the vines, but Carly kept them coming, swirling around her, tying her up as she fought and roared. Carly kept the foliage attacking until the beast was encased in three feet of solid wood, all but her head.
Finally, the Monster relented. She seethed and growled. Carly approached her. "You need to calm down, Ms. Walters."
"She-Hulk no talk to creepy jungle goddess," said the Monster, apparently named She-Hulk.
"I think She-Hulk will. I want to know if you killed those men over to the south."
She-Hulk smiled a toothy grin. "She-Hulk no war on weak. Not worthy. Puny humans flee. Not like you. She-Hulk like fighting Villain. Let She-Hulk go and we fight like Amazons. Let best woman win."
Carly swore that the monster winked at her. "If I let you go, will you promise not to attack me? I swear, I just want to talk."
"Talk, talk. She-Hulk no talk. She-Hulk fight!" She struggled against the wood that strained against the extra-normal musculature.
"And it would be an epic battle. But I suspect I'm not She-Hulk's true enemy. Ms. Walters mentioned an issue with supplies. Do you know about that?"
She-Hulk's brow knit like thinking required supreme effort. "Yes. Too-important men make children suffer. But She-Hulk no can just smash. They hold—what word—prisoners."
"Hostages? You can't attack because they're holding hostages that they'll kill if you try to fight them?"
"She-Hulk just wants smash! Why so wrong?"
"You don't want anyone to die, do you?"
"She-Hulk not like jungle goddess. Jungle Goddess try to kill the Jennifer. She-Hulk respect life."
She looked almost proud. A monster with a code.
"That was an accident. I can't always control my power. Surely, you can understand."
"No control, no use. Simple even to She-Hulk. Now let She-Hulk loose so we can continue smash."
Carly considered, and let the monster loose. She-Hulk brushed the debris off her arms. She crouched to launch, but Carly held up a hand.
"Wait. I don't want to fight. I want to help you."
She-Hulk's laughter filled the forest and scared the birds away. "Goddess of Vines and Creepers offers help. She-Hulk laugh."
Carly approached the giant monster with her hands up. "I just want to make a difference for once. I need to prove to myself that I can do good."
She-hulk grabbed Carly with one massive hand and raised her so she was an inch from She-Hulk's face. "She-Hulk no interested in problems of whiney goddess. She-Hulk need no help. Now She-Hulk tire. You convince The Jennifer, She-Hulk maybe listen. Now go."
She-Hulk reared back and tossed Carly high into the air, above the forest, her feet kicking, her arms flailing. Carly crashed back through the trees, slamming into the ground.
Carly lay there for a minute, regaining her breath and strength, then ran back to where she had tied up the monster, but the monster was gone.
