"Steve!" Clint wanted to hug the other man that was rather obvious just by the way he grinned, "Tony! Thank god you two are safe."
"Have you two seen Bruce?" Tony was quick to question, "he ran off looking for you two after you fell."
"Well yes and no," Clint started but the angered roar that seemed to shake the entire building stopped him from explaining right there and then. Natasha was shooting looks over her shoulder as everyone could hear the stomps heading for them.
"We'll explain on the way," Natasha quickly interjected, "right now we need to move until we can come up with a plan."
"Fill us in quickly," Steve didn't argue as the group started to run down the halls, sticking close together to avoid getting separated again.
"Something happened to Bruce," Natasha turned a corner sharply and started to explain the only way she really could, "I don't know what he thinks he saw before but he let something else out from inside of him. It's not Hulk, it just described itself as the devil that lurked inside of him."
"I like to call it Devil Hulk," Clint added.
"It has control of how it appears and let's just say it's less than friendly," Natasha continued on, "From what I can tell, it's made up of all the hate that has ever been put on Bruce, everything done to him. Another split. Where Hulk is his childhood and his anger at everything that happened, Devil Hulk is his fear and hate for the people that made him like that. By the way it spoke… It refers to Bruce as 'boy' a lot…" Natasha thought about Bruce's file, about the childhood she knew Bruce came from. "Devil Hulk is Bruce's worst nightmare and it's in control."
"And Natasha basically decided to knee it in the gut and headbutt it after having a nice little make out session," Clint smirked a bit.
"Okay that last bit was too much information," Tony called out, "don't want to hear about it."
"Anyone have any idea how we stop this thing? I get the feeling we can't reason with it," Steve questioned.
"No idea, Hulk seems a lot easier to deal with than this thing. I guess our only hope is to wear it down," Natasha replied, "unless this Tyrell guy has a way to stop it."
"Considering he sent it at us, I doubt he's going to give up anything he has," Clint pointed out, "either way we need a plan of some sort."
The pounding of feet following them reminded the group that despite the tight and sudden turns they were making, it wouldn't take long for the creature to catch up to them. "Maybe we can coax Bruce back out?" Tony suggested.
"I don't know," Natasha stated, "given what we know, it's hard to tell. He's really… angry."
"That's typical of Bruce though, he wouldn't actually hurt us if he could avoid it," Tony restated as he shot a look over his shoulder, the footsteps were dying down.
"He also feels… Betrayed," Natasha added.
Steve shot Tony a look and despite the mask, he could guess Tony had the same look. When they looked at Natasha and Clint in front of them though, they could tell they weren't going to get an answer to the question burning in their mind.
"We need a plan, we can't keep running," Steve pointed out.
"I will listen to just about any suggestion, right now I'm just trying to keep alive," Natasha called back.
"Maybe we can get into an open space and tire it out," Steve suggested, "or at least take the fight to Tyrell. Just, something."
Clint was about to answer when a giant, yellow clawed hand burst through the wall beside them and grabbed Tony, pulling him back through. The twisted, deep voice was back, "You want to coax the boy out? Go ahead and try."
Devil Hulk started to squeeze, crushing the armor around Tony who yelled out in pain as he struggled. "Come on Bruce… You don't' want to do this… We're pals."
"Not working, guess that means you lose," Devil Hulk grinned. The group got a good look at the creature that held Tony now. It wasn't in the small, frail scientist body anymore but there was no way they would forget those burning red eyes. It opened its mouth baring its fangs and showing the forked tongue, its appearance for the most part was that of a humanoid snake. Its body was covered in yellow scales, though its hands ended in long claws that looked like they would have no problems with shredding through anything. It stood at least as tall as Hulk did, though it seemed to growing ever so slightly with each passing second.
"Not yet!" Steve tossed his shield at the creature, catching it as it returned.
Devil Hulk hissed in annoyance and in return suddenly tossed Tony right at Steve, knocking him into the wall behind him. Steve grunted but before he could try anything, Devil Hulk was on top of him, literally. The beast had its foot on Tony who lay motionless on top of Steve. Tony's armor had stopped responding from the damage done to it. "You were saying Captain?"
"Hey!" Clint called out as he grabbed a piece of the now destroyed the wall and tossed it at Devil Hulk's head. "You forgetting about someone?" Devil Hulk let out a low growl as he glared at Clint. "Bet'cha can't catch me." With that he and Natasha were running down the hall again.
Natasha shot a look over at Clint as they turned a corner together, they were unarmed and without a plan. They needed an armory and fast. They kept running, turning the next corner together before shooting each other a look, they couldn't stay together. They had already done one thing they never wanted to do, leave Tony and Steve behind with the trust that Devil Hulk won't touch them yet. It seemed likely it wouldn't do anything, not when it wanted to torment them and the best way for that was for them to be in the same room and watching. Now they had to do one more thing they didn't want to do, they had to split up. There was no way they could cover enough ground together and the risk of being caught now was too high. They stared at each other for a moment longer as the hallway split into two directions. With a nod Clint went straight and Natasha took the next right. Stay safe.
Devil Hulk continued to growl where he was, stepping off of Steve and Tony. He grabbed Steve and slammed him hard into the wall, causing him to drop his shield as he gritted his teeth in pain. It wasn't as fun without an audience, Devil Hulk had to admit that much but he needed Steve to not cause him trouble. He hit Steve against the wall again, this time knocking him out. Perfect. With that Devil Hulk picked up Tony, "Well your friends abandoned you two. How does that make you feel?"
"Like they're going to kick your scaly yellow ass," Tony responded, even without being able to see it, it was easy to tell he was smirking.
"Is that so? Do you think they can do it before I rip you in half?" Devil Hulk questioned.
There was a short wave of panic through Tony before he was able to get out, "Where's the fun in that?"
"Where's the fun indeed," Devil Hulk grinned, "Come along children, it's time to play hide and seek." Devil Hulk dropped Steve to the ground beside Tony before grabbing one of their legs in each hand and dragging them along the ground behind him. Tony tried to kick at the clawed hand that held him but the damage to the armor was causing it to leak more and more energy with every movement, he didn't have a lot to waste. He found himself in a situation where he had to rely only on Clint and Natasha.
Devil Hulk moved through the halls with a grin on his face as he called out, "come out, come out wherever you are…." He reached the section where Natasha and Clint had split up. He sniffed the air for a moment, shooting a glance down to the right hallway for a moment but saw nothing much of interest, the smells didn't intrigue him enough to push him forward. He continued on straight.
He could smell the fear, it was so sweet and welcoming to him. He loved the hunt but his mind worked away at how he would punish the two assassins for this. He wanted them to suffer, he'd let them suffer for years that was his promise. He could come up with so many things over those years and if he ever became bored, well then, they'd have no further use and would be disposed of. Until then though, the smell of fear just made him excited at the thought of what he could do to draw that smell out more.
"Now, now," Devil Hulk called out as he stopped at a door, "it's not very wise to keep running like this, is it? There's nowhere for you to really go. I can chase you for days but unlike you I don't get hungry, I don't need water. Give up now and maybe I'll feed you once in a while."
Nothing, of course. He expected that and it only meant the hunt would be that much more thrilling. "I have your friends already. I can play with them until I find you." He kicked open the door and found the room empty so he went to the next and did the same. Empty.
He came to a third room, and he could smell a new wave of fear coming from inside. He considered kicking the door open as he had the others but since he knew what he would find inside, he decided he wanted the door intact. He shifted Tony over to the same hand he was holding Steve's leg in before gently grabbing the nob of the door and pushing it open just a crack. He peaked in as the thin ray of light from the hallway entered the dark room.
Clint saw the door open a crack, instincts caused him to glance over and he saw the edge of the grin and the red eye before the voice came, "Found you." Before Clint could move the door was flung open and he was pinned by the unconscious body of Steve and the unmovable form of Tony.
"I really am not enjoying getting tossed around," Tony muttered.
Devil Hulk stepped into the room, looking around, searching for the missing member. She was better at controlling the scent of fear, better at hiding, he didn't want to waste time. "One missing… However, I tire of hide and seek. I think it's time she came and found us. I wonder how much noise you three have to make before she comes. Let us begin."
Natasha had found where the weapons were stored, she was just started to get what she needed when the screams started. Tony? That made her move faster as she found Clint's bow and arrows tucked away in the room near a few of her knives and guns. Another scream came. Steve? No, no, no this couldn't be happening, not now. Despite her thoughts she didn't hesitate as she loaded the gun in her hand and started checking what else was available to her. Smoke Grenade, Widow's Bites, array of knives, wire.
She was putting the wire in one of her pockets when she felt something else in there. Something that she didn't expect to find in one of her pockets, it felt glossy to her touch but was paper thin. Carefully she pulled it out to look at it seeing the picture. She remembered finding it at that base when this had all started, when she was with Hulk. It seemed like ages ago. Then came another scream. Clint. She tucked the picture back into her pocket and ran down the hallway towards the screams. She had no plan but she also had no intention of abandoning the others.
She was nearing the turn that had separated her and Clint when she heard footsteps and quickly ducked into the closest room. She took a peak out into the hallway and saw the intimidating form of Varou with a few guards dressed up in SHIELD gear walking down towards the screams. She waited for them to pass before following silently. They passed the door Devil Hulk had broken down in his search for them though when Varou stopped by an open door, Natasha ducked into a room again, hiding behind the door that was falling off of its hinges, barely holding on from the force it had endured. She listened carefully.
"The master would like to see you," Varou's voice that was becoming far too familiar for her taste started.
"Tell him I'm busy."
"You are to bring those three to him; he'd like to discuss how you are treating his property."
"Too bad, I'm not done." There was another yell, it sounds like Steve.
"It isn't a request. He's offered you a lot and helped you get your freedom, now I suggest playing nicely before we have to drag you there."
There was a hiss from Devil Hulk before she heard footsteps again. She glanced through a crack to watch Varou walk out with the guards and Devil Hulk following as well as the bloodied forms of her friends. Hang on, I'm coming.