Disclaimer: I have no creative rights over the characters and places you can identify in this story and have no way profited from this work.
26/12/2012
Hi everyone. I hope you all had as great a Christmas as I did. My youngest nephew loved the Avengers Lego Set my father and I gave him as it contained Hulk (his favourite superhero) and Thor. Like a lot of reviewers of this story seem to want, he had Hulk brawl with the Cave Troll that is part of the Moria Lego Set that my eldest nephew has.
First Spoiler Alert: Just because Thor and Hulk are underpowered at the moment, doesn't necessarily mean they will be like that for the rest of the story.
Thanks for everyone's reviews. They are proving to be a big help in making improvements to this story as well encouraging me to update it as quickly as I can.
Mainalpha: You are right about the vortex. It's the best plot device I was capable of thinking of. Not only to get the three Avengers to Middle-earth but also to limit Thor's & Hulk's powers so as not to cause too great an imbalance at the start.
FireheartNinja: I'm glad you are enjoying it. I hope this chapter meets your expectations.
Chapter 9 – A Clash of Great Powers
A deathly silence hanged over the Chamber as all the combatants within it, including the Cave Troll, stared at the battle's newest entrant.
Gandalf thought he had seen and heard it all throughout his long existence in Arda. Right now though, he was as stunned as any of the Hobbits at the sight before him. Even the skin changing of Beornings paled in comparison what now stood at the back of the Chamber.
Banner appeared to have transformed into a green skinned, nine-foot tall creature wearing only the torn remains of his trousers. The creature's physique appeared as powerful as the anger it seemed to emanate. Although similar in many respects to a troll, it would be wrong to describe it as such. The creature's formidable arm and leg muscles contoured like a man's while its facial features, including its head of hair, were a warped form of Banner's. When kept prisoner at the Orthanc, Gandalf was shocked to observe how Saruman had crossbred orcs and goblin-men to create a new breed of Orc. But not even the Istari had the knowledge to transform a man into what Banner had!
Sam was standing behind Rogers who'd originally covered him from the troll's hammer. Turning to see what made the angry roar behind him, Sam remembered Banner saying he had 'whole different side' when he got angry. Sam thought Banner had showed this side (which was frightening enough) when he yelled at Frodo. But Banner also said he could get a whole lot angrier and that the Fellowship should not want to be at its receiving end.
Not turning his gaze from the green monster, Sam calmly but tensely asked Rogers, "That's the Hulk?"
"That's the Hulk," Rogers confirmed matter-of-fact.
"Blimey."
Seemingly angered that it was no longer the main focus of attention in the Chamber, the Cave Troll bellowed in challenge at Hulk. On later reflection, Rogers would compare the sound of the troll's hammer hitting his shield to a ringside bell announcing the commencement of a heavyweight title bout.
The Fellowship and goblins alike had to dart out of the way as Hulk responded to the troll's challenge by charging straight at it. The troll swung its hammer at Hulk's head. Before the hammer made contact with him, Hulk grabbed the troll's right wrist with his left hand. Being three feet taller than Hulk, the Troll was surprised at the strength Hulk exerted to prevent it from moving its hammer. The troll tried a new attack by punching towards Hulk with its left fist. Hulk stopped the punch in motion with his right palm.
As Thor and Rogers were the only combatants present familiar with the Other Guy, both quickly overcame their initial shock at his appearance. They began engaging and killing the goblins closest to them. As these goblins fell, the other Fellowship members and the remaining goblins re-commenced where they had left off before Hulk's arrival.
Both Hulk and the troll gritted their teeth due to the position that Hulk's grip had locked them into. Under normal circumstances, the troll would have been no match for the Hulk's exponential level of strength. The part of Hulk's consciousness that was Banner rationalised that, just as the vortex had affected Banner's ability to call upon Hulk, maybe it had diminished Hulk's actual strength as well. The remainder of Hulk's consciousness just got angry that he was unable to sweep aside the troll as easily as he should.
The troll resolved their positional stalemate with a powerful head-butt that caused Hulk to stumble back into the sidewall behind him. The sidewall cracked at Hulk's impact before he slipped onto his rear. Seeing Hulk in this position, goblins swarmed over him, thinking he was vulnerable. As their iron weapons rebounded off his skin or broke on impact, the goblins quickly learned that Hulk was always invulnerable against any of their attacks. With a powerful backward sweep of his right arm, Hulk swatted four goblins like gnats that saw them fly to all parts of the Chamber.
The troll was about to follow up its earlier attack on Hulk when it felt a sharp pain in its right shoulder. From his position standing on Balin's Tomb, Gimli had thrown one of his axes into the troll. Gimli had to leap off his cousin's tomb to avoid the hammer blow the troll intended for him in response. The hammer blow meant for Gimli shattered the tomb instead. The troll again made to attack Gimli with its hammer. Gimli ducked and avoided two swings the troll made at him. Each swing may have missed the dwarf but they connected with goblins unfortunate to be in the path of the swing. The cry the goblins made as they flew into the air before being brained when they hit the Chamber's walls reminded Rogers of the sound made by fleeing cats.
Gimli rolled out of the way as the troll brought its hammer straight down on him. The hammer broke through the Chamber floor, jamming itself into the impact crater it had made. The only other participant in the battle wielding a hammer took this opportunity to attack the troll.
Thor faced the troll side on to its right. He was standing on one of the staircases that ran up the side of the wall that faced opposite to where Hulk had stumbled. Thor quickly judged the distance and angle between him and the troll's hammer before launching himself forwards. On his downward trajectory, Thor brought down Mjolnir onto the troll's hammer with as much force as he could. He was specifically aiming at where the hammer's shaft connected to its head. The troll was trying to free its jammed hammer when Mjolnir's blow separated the hammer's head from its shaft.
The troll growled at the broken shaft it now held. Enraged that Thor had disabled its weapon of choice, the troll struck him with the broken shaft sending Thor flying back onto the stairway he just attacked from. Thor's constitution was infinitely greater than any goblin's. But he still felt a sharp pain when the back of his head hit the stairs.
If I'd known about this battle, Thor dryly ruminated. I would've left Asgard wearing my helm.
Legolas became the fourth member of the Fellowship to engage the troll. He was on the sidewall ledge that directly faced the troll. Seeing the troll's gaze was fixed on where Thor had landed, the Elf drew back two arrows with his bowstring. Using his sublime archery skills, Legolas released both arrows simultaneously at the troll's chest. The troll spun its head in Legolas' direction when it felt the arrows pierce its skin. While the troll was not greatly pained by the arrows, it was startled enough to drop the broken shaft.
As its two handlers had been killed, the troll began using the iron chain attached to the collar around its neck as a long whip. Legolas nimbly dodged the first lash of the chain by moving behind some pillars that ran from the ledge to the Chamber roof. The troll bend the chain back again ready for another strike but it noticed the chain was being restrained from behind. The troll spun around and saw that Hulk had grabbed with both his hands the opposite end of the chain. Hulk gave the troll an angry snarl if to show that it took more than a head butt to take him out of a fight. With the troll and Hulk pulling the chain in opposite directions a colossal tug of war broke out between them.
With the troll's back now turned to him, Legolas moved to take the opportunity this presented. He carefully aimed an arrow at the spine of the troll's neck. But before he could release the arrow, Legolas noticed to his right that some goblins had climbed onto the ledge and were now charging towards him. Legolas was quick to adapt to the new threat he faced. He turned to his right and shot the goblin closest to him with the arrow he had intended for the troll. As the goblins were now in melee range Legolas swiftly withdrew one of his two fighting long knives and began to slash at his goblin attackers.
Behind Hulk, Boromir stood with back close to the sidewall. Boromir had taken this position to prevent being attacked from behind. The Gondorian had never been in such a battle. Especially after Banner transformed into a green monster or 'Hulk' as Rogers described it. While it exaggerated the height differences of all the Chamber's combatants, Boromir compared the situation to ants fighting to the death while trying to avoid being stepped on by a pair of battling mumakils.
Thor had pulled himself up from his crash and was now on the stairway fighting back to back with Sam. It was something of a misnomer to call the two's formation 'back to back' as Sam's head just came over Thor's waist. Sam improvised a fighting style with his sword being in one hand and his frying pan in the other. He stunned a goblin by smacking its face with the frying pan before finishing it with a quick stab with his sword.
As he with withdrew his sword from the goblin he had just killed, Sam proclaimed to the Asgardian, "Mister Thor, I think I'm getting the hang of this!"
"You've invented a new martial art, Master Samwise!" Thor replied as Sam whacked another Goblin with his frying pan.
Rogers and Aragorn finally stopped the flow of goblins by killing the last reinforcements coming through the doorway. That only left all the goblins that were already in the Chamber. Rogers quickly surveyed the situation to see where he was most needed. Rogers spotted to his left that Boromir had backed up against a sidewall while trying to hold off two goblins. Rogers noticed another three goblins moving towards Boromir ready to attack. Normally, he could easily take them down with a throw of his shield. Unfortunately, Gandalf would be in shield's flight path as the wizard was tied down in a duel of his own. Rogers ran towards Boromir as hard and fast as he could. With a powerful exertion of his enhanced leg muscles, Rogers jumped over the head of the goblin that Gandalf was fighting. When he landed Rogers promptly intercepted and dispatched the trio of goblins using his shield as a melee weapon. Boromir stabbed one of the two goblins he had been fighting just as Rogers reached him and killed the other. Boromir gave the American a quick nod of appreciation.
The two Captains did not have time to savour their small victory. The iron chain that Hulk and the troll struggled over strained and then snapped at its midpoint. Such was the force they had poured into their tug of war, both quickly stumbled backwards into the respective sidewall behind each of them. Gandalf, Rogers and Boromir had to sharply dive to avoid being squashed by Hulk as he crashed into the sidewall closest to them. Hulk's crash caused a large section of the sidewall's ledge to crumble, creating a gap he unceremoniously fell back into.
"Hulk, watch for friendlies!" Rogers loudly warned him. Hulk gave Rogers a grimace in return.
The other sidewall suffered the same fate when the troll fell backwards into it. The gap the troll had made in the ledge separated Legolas from Merry, Pippin and Frodo. Unfortunately, Frodo was so close to the gap's edge that he lost his footing and fell backwards on to the troll's portly belly. The Ring-bearer tried to stand and scramble off the troll as quickly as he could. Frodo fended off the troll's left hand from grabbing him with a sharp cut from Sting. However, Frodo's back was turned to the troll's right hand and he was caught off guard when it strongly gripped him as the troll sat up.
Aragorn had not been idle since he and Rogers had dispatched the last of the goblin's reinforcements. Before the Fellowship left Rivendell, Aragorn had sworn to Frodo that with his sword he would protect him by his life or death. Aragorn prided himself for being a man of his word and charged towards the troll when it had Frodo in its grasp. With a loud cry Aragorn drove his sword deep into the troll's left ankle. With a roar of pain the troll dropped Frodo before battering Aragorn away with a backward flick of its left hand. The troll pulled itself back up on to its feet, though its stance was now a bit wobbly due to Aragorn's sword remaining stuck in its ankle.
Frodo hit the Chamber's stone floor hard when the troll dropped him on to it. He was slightly dazed as he stood up and his diminished sense of self-awareness was all the opportunity the troll needed. The troll ignored the stones being thrown at it by Merry and Pippin from the ledge it was facing and picked up a discarded goblin spear that lay on the floor. Gripping the spear with both its hands the troll then thrust it into Frodo's waist.
The whole Fellowship heard Frodo's cry when the spear struck him. Some members of the Fellowship were able to turn and see Frodo fall face down into the ground after the troll withdrew the spear from him.
"Frodo!" Sam called to him.
Hearing no response from Frodo, Sam and Thor shared a look before they both started furiously dispatching any goblins that stood between them and the Ring-bearer.
Satisfied that Frodo was killed, the troll turned its murderous attention to Merry and Pippin. As all the goblins in the Chamber were now killed, the rest of the Fellowship moved to the pair's rescue. After getting back on his feet, Hulk decided to take care of the troll himself. He launched himself onto the troll's back, gripping its waist with his legs and squeezing the troll's head between his powerful hands. The rest of the Fellowship that remained standing had to make room as the troll staggered back trying to reach Hulk from behind. As he struggled with the troll, Hulk began to feel some of his full strength slowly returning. Using his anger to draw on his increasing strength, Hulk violently twisted the troll's head and its neck broke with a powerful snap. Hulk jumped off the now dead troll's back as it slumped forward onto the floor.
With all enemies dead for now, the Fellowship caught its breath. Under normal circumstances, the original Fellowship would have had countless things to ask about the Other Guy. Their sole focus was instead on Frodo as he had not moved since being stabbed by the troll. Aragorn reached him first and feared the worst.
"Oh no," he whispered as he rolled Frodo over on to his back.
The rest of the Fellowship member's eyes widened when they saw Frodo moving with his worst injury appearing to be a nasty cough. Sam knelt next to Frodo on the opposite side to Aragorn. None of the Fellowship minded the gardener stating the obvious.
"He's alive!" Sam said having never been more relieved in his life
With Frodo alive, Captain America expressed relief about a different matter as he gently patted Hulk's forearm.
"Thanks for helping out, big guy," Rogers thanked him.
Hulk gave a short grunt of appreciation.
After he had finished coughing, Frodo said calmly, "It's alright. I'm not hurt."
"You should be dead," a confused Aragorn argued. "That spear would skewered a wild boar".
Gandalf's mind had begun to catch up with the Other Guy's surprise introduction.
"I think this hobbit is a bit like Master Banner," Gandalf wryly observed. "There's more to him than meets the eye".
Frodo parted his shirt to display a shiny, silver-white metal coat he wore underneath it. One member of the original Fellowship instantly knew what the mail was compromised of.
"Mithril," Gimli softly identified as he stared admiringly at Frodo's armour.
All the Fellowship deduced where the armour had come from.
"Now we know what happened to Bilbo's coat," Pippin thought aloud.
Switching his attention between Frodo and Hulk, Gimli said, "You're both full of surprises, Masters Baggins and Banner."
"I strongly second the observation," Boromir agreed deadpan, still awed by the sight of Hulk.
As he pulled his sword from the troll's body, Aragorn suggested the Fellowship should quickly gather up their belongings. Questions about the Other Guy could wait until the Fellowship had put the Chamber well behind them.
"Where to now, Gandalf?" Rogers asked the Grey Wizard.
Before Gandalf could reply the Fellowship's attention was grabbed by the sound of screeching goblins. Through the Chamber doorway they could see torchlight casting the shadows of countless goblins heading towards the Fellowship.
Gandalf hastily commanded, "To the Bridge of Khazad-dum!"
With Gandalf leading them, the Fellowship dashed out of the Chamber in the direction of the Twenty-First Hall's exit. Goblin calls and screeches echoed throughout the hall. A few hundred yards ahead of them, the Fellowship observed a dark mass of goblins quickly moving towards them. With inhuman strides, Hulk rapidly left the rest of the Fellowship behind him.
Hulk's strength and invulnerability were well known but he was also capable of moving at great speeds. He often used this speed to generate the momentum that allowed him to leap across great distances. Although his abilities were currently diminished somewhat, Hulk still executed a powerful leap towards the incoming goblins.
The rest of the Fellowship felt the floor tremble beneath their feet when Hulk landed in the goblins' midst. Those goblins Hulk did not squash or scatter on impact he began sweeping aside with powerful arm movements. Although he was twice their size, the goblins tried attacking Hulk in response as they still outnumbered him by the hundreds. Like in the Chamber, the Hulk was impervious to being damaged by goblin attacks even though there were many more of them. And like their Chamber kin, any goblins that tried to attack Hulk were promptly sent flying in all directions.
Hulk was doing the Fellowship a great service by trying to clear a path between the goblins and the Hall's exit. However Hulk did not have the power to be in two or more places at once. The goblins he was engaging were not the only ones in the Hall converging on the Fellowship. As the rest of Fellowship tried to catch up with Hulk, goblins seemingly limitless in number came towards them from behind, both left and right, and even up from narrow crevasses in the Hall's floor.
Damn, Rogers thought as goblins rapidly filled the hundred-yard space between the Fellowship and Hulk.
The goblins filling this gap had emerged out the holes in the Hall's roof before rapidly climbing down its pillars headfirst to the floor. The rest of the Fellowship was now arrayed in a tight circle as the goblins had now completely surrounded them. Rogers well knew that, unlike the Other Guy, many of the Fellowship weren't immune to the goblin's weapons or their numbers. He was about to shout out for Hulk's aid when a deep and ominous rumble echoed throughout the Hall.
Just as earlier when Hulk's roar stopped all combat in the Chamber of Mazarbul, the rumble bought all activity within the Twenty-First Hall to a halt. Even Hulk paused at the unnerving sound. There was second rumble that came from the direction opposite to where the Fellowship was heading. As the Fellowship and the goblins looked towards the rumble's location they noticed that one of the Hall's arches was covered in an evil glow of red and orange. Further this glow was steadily drawing towards where the combatants were standing.
At this the goblins exchanged panicked clicks and screeches and rapidly fled from the Fellowship back to the shadows they had come from. With no goblins in his way now Hulk bounded up to the rest of the Fellowship. Aside from sensing the rumble and the glow, Thor also smelt something burning. The fear on the goblins faces indicated to him that, whatever was the source of their panic, it could not be simply an underground fire.
Standing behind Gandalf, Boromir spoke for the whole Fellowship as he nervously asked the wizard "What is this new devilry?"
At first Gandalf did not answer Boromir or even turn to face him. Gandalf's head was bowed and he closed his eyes lost in thought. His greatest fear about the Fellowship travelling through Moria had now been realised.
Thor put a steady hand on Gandalf's shoulder and prompted him with, "Gandalf?"
At Thor's touch, Gandalf opened his eyes but fixated them on the oncoming glow. The wizard finally answered Boromir's question.
"A Balrog," he explained with thinly hidden dread. "A demon of the ancient world. This foe is beyond any of you."
Hulk frowned slightly as he thought the 'any' contained in Gandalf's remark was specifically aimed at him. Gandalf turned to the direction of the Hall's exit and promptly commanded the Fellowship, "RUN!"
The Fellowship quickly reached the Hall exit. The exit was a narrow doorway of normal height that led into an equally narrow downward flight of steps. Boromir was the first to go down them. Rogers, Hulk, Gandalf and Aragorn were the last to exit the Hall. Prior to going down the stairs, Gandalf and Aragorn paused and looked at Hulk and wondered how he was going to fit down the exit.
"Don't worry," Rogers advised both of them. "He'll follow after us."
Boromir raced down the stairs until he exited through another narrow doorway that led to a landing. The Fellowship had exited into a very large chasm that was traversed by a narrow stairway. Boromir moved off the landing and down the stairway that commenced directly ahead of him. However after running down only a few stairs he had to suddenly halt as the stairs ended before a bottomless drop. As he struggled to regain his balance he dropped the torch he was carrying down the chasm. Fortunately Legolas and Thor each grabbed one of his arms to steady his dangerous teetering. The Fellowship members that had exited the Hall had to turn to their right and take a detour down an alternate flight of stairs that lead to the cavern's main staircase.
Rogers and Aragorn came out on to the landing with Gandalf behind them. Both men noticed that Gandalf appeared to be struggling somewhat and moved closer to support him.
"Gandalf," Aragorn said to the wizard with quiet concern.
The Istari put his right hand on Aragorn's shoulder and looked at both him and Rogers.
"Lead them on both of you," Gandalf told the pair of them. If Rogers did not know better, he thought the wizard sounded like a commanding officer giving final orders to their XO. Before Rogers had the chance to ask what he had planned, Gandalf spoke again. "The bridge is near."
Rogers and Aragorn followed Gandalf's gaze to see in the distance a narrow bridge spanning a great chasm. It was at this moment that Hulk burst through the exit in a shower of rubble and dust. At Hulk's arrival, Gandalf shoved Aragorn in the direction the Fellowship had to travel.
"Do as I say!" he urged Rogers and Aragorn. "Swords, shields and Hulks are no more use here!"
Due to his natural athleticism Legolas was in the lead as the Fellowship went down the staircase that led to the Bridge of Khazad-dum. Hulk was at the Fellowship's rear as the staircase was too narrow for anyone else to stand beside him. Unlike Boromir earlier, Legolas had plenty of time to see to his front a gap in the stairway. This gap was 'only' about seven feet across but its depth was still terrible. The Fellowship halted as each member prepared to jump the gap.
Legolas easily leaped across the gap to its other side with Thor quickly following him. Gandalf was about to jump when he heard the Balrog's roar coming from behind the Fellowship. He looked around to see the Hall exit was had fiery red glow. Each step the still unseen Balrog took shook the staircase well as parts of the cavern roof to crumble down on it.
"Gandalf!" Legolas beckoned the Wizard with a wave of his arm. Gandalf refocussed on the task at hand and jumped across the gap. When he landed Gandalf heard an arrow whistle overhead from his left. He turned in that direction to see that a company of goblin archers had perched themselves some sixty yards away on a ledge overlooking the Fellowship. Legolas rapidly drew his bow and shot one of the goblin archers in the forehead. The archer let out a dying gurgle as it fell face down from the ledge into the chasm depths
Rogers rapidly covered Merry - who was on the stair in front of him – with his shield to deflect two arrows meant for him. Hulk roared in frustration at the situation. While his full power seemed to be slowly returning he was still not confident his leap could cover the distance between the stairway and the ledge. And he couldn't place his whole body in front of other Fellowship members to block arrows given the narrow confines of the stairway. Given the situation he stretched his left arm in front what Fellowship members he could to block the goblin's line of sight. The down side of Hulk's action was that it blocked Aragorn's line of sight as well. Seeing that Frodo and Sam were well covered by Hulk's arm, Aragorn was not greatly worried he was unable to return fire at the goblins with his own bow.
Thor had interposed himself between the goblins' arrows and Gandalf. If he had his full powers, Thor could've simply disposed of the archers by projecting Mjolnir at them. Denied this choice, the God of Thunder instead used his hammer defensively. Hawkeye recalled to Thor how, during the Chitauri invasion, Loki effortlessly caught an arrow in flight the master archer had shot at him ("Still not quick enough to catch the time delay explosion," Hawkeye was quick to add). Like his adoptive brother, Thor had centuries of training and experience in blocking attacks including those too rapid for a mortal's eye to see. However, unlike Loki, in Thor ran the blood of Odin that endowed him with reflexes worthy of any warrior deity. Using Mjolnir, Thor effortlessly swatted away any arrows the goblin archers sent in the direction of Legolas, Gandalf and himself. Legolas used Thor's cover to begin picking off the multitude of goblin archers.
However, the Fellowship members that remained on the other side of the gap could not cross it at their leisure. The shaking caused by the Balrog's advance began to place great strains on the structural integrity of the stairway. Boromir and Rogers stood next to each other on the same stair. They shot each other a look when they both felt the stairway giving way under their feet. Rogers and Boromir quickly grabbed Merry and Pippin respectively and leapt over the gap while holding them. As they were in mid-flight the part of the stairway the four of them stood on crumbled into the chasm. When he landed on the other side, Rogers would like to have thrown his shield at the goblins to assist Legolas. But he did not want to withdraw the protection it was giving Merry, Pippin and Boromir. Fortunately, another Avenger was given an opportunity to assist the Prince of Mirkwood.
Hulk heard a rushing sound coming above his head. He looked up and saw a round shaped boulder about four feet in width descending straight on top of him. Having to remove his left arm that was covering some of the Fellowship, Hulk caught the boulder with both his hands just before it hit him. He had to bend his knees slightly to cushion the boulder's momentum. While jumping the gap between the Fellowship and the goblins was currently beyond him, Hulk was still more than capable of throwing a heavy object over the same distance. He heaved the boulder behind his head and sent it with a mighty throw in the direction of the goblin archers. The way the boulder flew towards the ledge reminded Boromir of a shot launched from a trebuchet. Many goblin archers were killed on impact or fell to their deaths as the boulder caused the ledge to crumble beneath them. Any survivors hurriedly ceased their attacks on the Fellowship and fled the scene.
Now that the goblins had been dealt with, the Fellowship could fully focus on crossing the stairway. The gap was now nine feet in length. Aragorn thought that the gap was now too wide for at least three of the four Fellowship members who remained with him. He saw that Rogers had put his shield on his back now that the goblins had been dealt with. Both Rogers and Boromir were facing him with arms apart, already anticipating what the Ranger was about to do.
Aragorn picked up Sam in both his arms and threw him over the gap as hard as he could. Boromir safely caught Sam on the hobbit's downward trajectory. Aragorn then moved to do the same with Gimli but was halted when the dwarf raised his hand.
"Nobody tosses a dwarf!" Gimli stated indignantly before launching himself into a mighty leap with a determined cry.
Despite his pride, Gimli's leap was not strong enough to reach the other side and he landed precipitously on the edge of the gap's other side. He would have fallen to his death had not Rogers rapidly grabbed his beard.
"Mind the beard!" Gimli exclaimed as it was still painful for someone to pull it even if they were dragging him to safety with it.
Gimli's crossing meant that only Frodo, Aragorn and Hulk were left to cross the gap. However as the Balrog drew closer the cavern roof shook even more violently. Hulk quickly had to drag Frodo and Aragorn back up the stairs to avoid a large boulder that fell towards where the two of them were standing. The boulder caused a large part of the stairway to collapse into the cavern. The three of them had to back up even further as more of the stairway in front of them suffered the same fate. The gap between the three of them and the rest of the Fellowship was now about twenty four feet in length. This was too long a distance for either the Man or Hobbit to jump across. But it was not too long for the Other Guy.
Rogers noticed that Hulk gave him a meaningful look as if to warn him about something. Hulk then grabbed and lifted Frodo under his right arm and Aragorn under his left. Frodo had never been held in his life with such strength as Hulk exhibited. Aragorn was at a loss to think what Hulk was planning to do to him and Frodo. Rogers knew though exactly what Hulk wanted to do.
Rogers turned and urgently yelled at the rest of the Fellowship behind him, "Go! GO!"
Seeing the Fellowship running away from him, Hulk made his move. In a powerful imitation of Rogers and Boromir's actions with Merry and Pippin, Hulk leapt across the gap while holding Frodo and Aragorn. Both of them were too shocked to scream as Hulk landed with a thud on the other side of the stairs. But as what Rogers expected Hulk was warning him about, the section of the stairway that Hulk landed on quickly crumbled from the impact. Hulk rushed forwards just keeping ahead of the parts of the stairway that crumbled in his wake. The crumbling eventually stopped but Hulk continued to rush down the stairs. He did not release Frodo or Aragorn until he reached the rest of the Fellowship whom were waiting for them on a landing at the bottom of the stairway.
Hulk let out a huge sigh seemingly satisfied that the Fellowship had safely traversed the stairway. Hulk rapidly began decreasing in size and becoming paler in colour before the astonished eyes of the original Fellowship. Soon it was Banner sitting before them wearing only the torn remains of his now ill fit jeans.
Rogers and Thor rushed up to their fellow Avenger.
"How do you fare, Banner?" Thor asked him.
"Just now," Banner replied between gasps, "it felt like the Other Guy decided he had enough rather than leaving because I wanted him to." Looking at his damaged clothes, Banner also dryly commented, "If I knew what was going to happen when we though the vortex, I would have bought a change of clothes."
His remark made a few of the Fellowship smile despite the present danger they were in.
"At least the Other Guy was there when we needed him." Rogers comforted Banner before asking him, "Are you still ok to move?"
Banner simply nodded. Merry wanted to ask Rogers what the word 'ok' meant. He was prevented by a heatwave that hit the Fellowship from the right of where Banner was facing. A deep pit bordered the landing that the Fellowship was standing on. Following the heatwave were intense flames and smoke rising from the pit below.
"We must flee now even if Bruce must run naked!" Gandalf shouted at the rest of the Fellowship who promptly obeyed his command.
Banner held the remains of his jeans as tightly as he could to cover his dignity as he joined rest of the Fellowship in running left along the landing. The landing turned a left corner into a long, wide corridor that lead to the Bridge of Khazad-dum. Gandalf stopped at the start of the corridor to let the rest of the Fellowship pass by him. Gandalf reminded Rogers of a traffic cop as he directed the Fellowship with his sword to move down the corridor quickly.
"Over the Bridge!" Gandalf exhorted to all the Fellowship members who ran past him. "Fly!"
At this moment the Fellowship heard a deep and evil roar that sounded like a raging forest fire. From the inferno arising from the pit behind them the Balrog jumped onto the landing with a thud. The twenty-foot tall Balrog amply fitted the description of 'demon' as it had a horned head, bat-like wings and a body wreathed in flames. The three Avengers joined Gandalf in looking behind at the Balrog.
Even though he was a lapsed Catholic, Banner's initial reaction to the Balrog was that the Devil himself had decided to attack the Fellowship. Despite Banner trying to summon him, the 'Other Guy' did not seem interested in an encore performance. On that basis, Banner thought it best to keep going to the Bridge instead. Rogers prided himself on being the good soldier so he obeyed Gandalf's command to keep running. Thor though resolved to make a stand against the Balrog.
When Thor was a small boy, his favourite story was the tale about his father's defeat of the legendary fire demon Surtur. Surtur's power was monstrous even for the All-Father. It took all of Odin's strength and knowledge for him to emerge victorious from their struggle. When Thor saw the Balrog he thought Surtur had found a way to Middle-earth and was now going avenge its defeat by attacking the All-Father's firstborn. The Asgardian moved to take a fighting stance.
May I equal my father's deeds so I can protect my friends, Thor steeled himself.
However, Gandalf grabbed Thor's right arm and pushed him forwards.
"No, Odinson!" Gandalf emphasised to Thor. "This foe is mine alone!"
The strength in Gandalf's shove made Thor conclude that, in spite of appearances, the wizard could not be just an old man. The Asgardian contemplated another similarity between Gandalf and Odin as he became the second last of the Fellowship to cross the bridge.
The Bridge of Khazad-dum was no more than about fifty feet in length and about three feet in width. It spanned a seemingly bottomless abyss. As the bridge had no safety railing, anyone who fell off it would fall to his or her doom. When Rogers reached the other side of the bridge, he privately commended the Dwarves for building such a brilliant chokehold to stop invaders.
Seeing that Thor had made it across to the other side, Gandalf then stopped about a third of the way along the bridge. He turned and faced the Balrog.
"You cannot pass!" Gandalf emphatically stated to the demon.
The Balrog responded by standing to its full height and igniting its whole body into an inferno. The Balrog drew with its right hand a long flaming sword from under its wings.
"Gandalf!" Frodo yelled in horror at the sight before him and the rest of the Fellowship.
Gandalf held Glamdring in his right hand and his staff in his left as he blocked the Balrog's path across the bridge.
"I am a servant of the Secret Fire, wielder of the Flame of Anor," the wizard intoned to his foe.
To Thor, the way that Gandalf spoke to the Balrog sounded like he was chanting a spell. This assumption was verified when Gandalf's staff emitted a bubble of blue-white light that surrounded the wizard.
Gandalf continued to speak his defiance to the Balrog. "The dark fire shall not avail you, flame of Udun!"
The Balrog responded by a powerful swing of its sword down towards him. The Balrog's sword appeared to disintegrate when Gandalf blocked it with Glamdring within the bubble of light. The bubble of light dissipated from the clash of swords. Rogers and Banner were completely dumbfounded by the unfolding duel. Even the Chitauri invasion appeared somewhat mundane to the sight before them. Thor thought the battle between the wizard and the demon was the equal of any recorded in the annals of Asgard.
Apparently enraged by the loss of its sword, the Balrog stepped forward onto the Bridge wielding a long fiery whip above its head.
Gandalf remained steadfast while telling the Balrog, "Go back to the shadow!" Gandalf raised his staff and Glamdring before declaring to the demon, "YOU SHALL NOT PASS!"
After he had said this, Gandalf slammed his staff down on the bridge that resulted in a loud cracking noise. After giving a derisive snort at the wizard's display of power, the Balrog took another step forward. The rest of the Fellowship looked on in awe as the bridge under the Balrog's feet crumbled before the demon plummeted into the abyss. As the Balrog fell, there was now a sizeable gap between the bridge and the corridor it was previously connected to. Gandalf gave an exhausted grunt at the Balrog's seeming demise before turning to join the rest of the Fellowship.
At this moment, the tail end of the Balrog's whip snapped up and wrapped around Gandalf's right ankle dragging him down. Glamdring and his staff slipped from Gandalf's grasp into the abyss. Gandalf tried to avoid his weapons' fate by trying to hang on with his fingertips to the edge of the gap.
The Hobbits began rushing in Gandalf's direction to help him but were restrained by Boromir and Rogers. Given the power unleashed during the recent battle, both men thought the bridge vulnerable to further collapse.
Gandalf gave the rest of the Fellowship a final look before he chided them, "Fly you fools!"
Gandalf lost his grip and fell into the abyss.
Frodo's pained scream encapsulated the reaction of the surviving Fellowship.
"NOOOOO!"
Since coming to Middle-earth Thor had taken not been too inconvenienced by the loss of Mjolnir's ability to confer flight. After seeing Gandalf fall to his death, he now very much wished he still had this power. Along with Aragorn, his gaze was transfixed on the edge that Gandalf had clung to. Only after hearing Boromir call out their names did both of them start running towards the exit of Moria like the rest of the Fellowship.
Thor noticed arrows beginning to fly in his and Aragorn's direction. With the Balrog and Hulk out of the way, the goblins felt safe to resume their pursuit of the Fellowship. As the arrows posed no threat to him, Thor placed himself between them and Aragorn.
The Fellowship soon exited outside of Moria onto the eastern side of the Misty Mountains. They all needed to readjust their eyes from Moria's darkness to the bright sunlight they had run into. Standing on a smooth rocky slope, the Fellowship paused to catch their breaths. Rogers pulled off his mask as it had become uncomfortable and sticky due to his perspiration. As his mask came off, he felt a cool breeze come across his forehead.
Gandalf's demise was the second time that Rogers had seen a close comrade literally fall to their deaths in battle. The first was when his best friend 'Bucky' Barnes lost his grip on a HYDRA train before falling into a deep icy ravine. Although Bucky's death was nearly seventy years ago, Rogers still felt the pain of it as if it happened yesterday. Rogers had known Gandalf for just under a week but for some reason his death felt almost painful. Rogers took the opportunity to see how other members of the Fellowship were coping with Gandalf's death.
Aragorn glumly began wiping goblin blood off his sword. Sam sat on a rock crying. Frodo had his back turned and appeared to be staring towards the southern horizon. Legolas's gaze was one of disbelief and dismay. Merry lay on his side trying to comfort Pippin who was next to him flat on his back weeping. Both Boromir and Thor had to restrain a frothing Gimli from charging back into Moria - the Dwarf wanted to return there and kill more goblins in revenge for Balin and Gandalf's deaths. However Rogers' attention was most grabbed by Banner who had sat down and was staring at the ground with a guilty look on his face. Rogers walked over and crouched before him.
"Talk to me, Bruce," Rogers politely ordered Banner.
Banner raised his head and Rogers noticed a tear streaming down his right cheek.
Banner swallowed before saying, "If the Other Guy could've lasted a bit longer, Gandalf wouldn't have had to-"
"Stop there, Bruce," Rogers softly interrupted him. Rogers drew on Agent Carter's – Peggy's – words to him when he blamed himself for Bucky's death. "Gandalf was pretty clear that he was the only one that could fight that thing. He knew what he might have to do for the rest of us to get away. Allow Gandalf the dignity of his choice - he obviously thought we were worth it."
Rogers thought the look now on Banner's face indicated acceptance of Peggy's wisdom.
Despite the gap Gandalf had created in the Bridge, Aragorn knew the Fellowship should not gamble on the goblins taking too long to repair it. After Aragorn had finished wiping his sword, he looked towards who else Gandalf had anointed to lead the Fellowship.
"Steve," he stoically addressed Captain America. "Get them up."
By 'them' Rogers knew that Aragorn was referring to the hobbits. Rogers didn't ask why given he privately shared Aragorn's assessment of the situation. Still comforting Gimli, Boromir though was incensed by Aragorn's apparent insensitivity to the grief many in the Fellowship still felt.
"Give them a moment for pity's sake!" the Gondorian angrily pleaded.
Aragorn waved his sword at the hills surrounding the Fellowship to emphasise the danger its members still faced.
"By nightfall these hills will be swarming with orcs!" he shot back.
"We all grieve for Gandalf," Thor began voicing his agreement with Aragorn. "But he clearly wanted us to escape from this place with haste. We should honour his sacrifice by doing so."
Aragorn gave Thor a quick nod of appreciation before calmly continuing, "We must reach the woods of Lothlorien. Come Boromir, Steve, Legolas get them up."
Boromir's initial anger subsided, as he knew that both Aragorn and Thor were right about the threat the goblins still posed. He walked over to where Rogers and Banner were and handed the later a spare set of undergarments he was carrying in his pack.
"I know it's not much to cover yourself with, Bruce," Boromir said. "But as you heard, we need to quickly move from here."
Banner took Boromir's gracious offer with a softly whispered; "Thanks."
As the Fellowship began to move down the mountain slopes, Thor, Gimli and Legolas were too pained to tell each other the number of goblins they had each killed.
This has been the longest and most complex chapter of the story I have had to write to date. I hope the Hulk's first full appearance was worth the wait. Be assured it will not be his last in Middle-earth.
Some readers might be disappointed that Hulk and the Balrog did not go toe to toe. The scenarios I tried to include this duel in all ended up seeming too contrived (although I agree such a fight would be a grand cinematic spectacle). Further, while this story is a Crossover, it is not intended to be a radical re-write of Lord of the Rings movie or book canon. Gandalf's fall in Moria to my mind is a key part of this canon.