It was nearing sunset when Danny and Tony stopped at a safe distance from town. Danny had felt the monster growing stronger at a rapid pace, making it hard for him to overshadow Him completely. He felt his control over the beast's mind slipping every so often, and Danny began to consider Tony's light-hearted warning about running.
The sky was beginning to turn a dusty pink as the sun set lower in the sky. Danny scanned the area for travellers and hikers. No one with any sense would've been walking this deep into the forest at dusk.
Facing Tony, Danny announced, "I'm going to release Greeny soon, so if you want to go, I'd take this opportunity while it still stands."
"No worries. I'll just enjoy the show from up here," Tony quickly gathered power in his thrusters and kicked off to an altitude of thirty feet above the overshadowing ghost's head.
Danny watched Tony hover for a while before taking a deep breath, "Okay. One… two…"
Danny dragged himself out of the monster, feeling lighter and more able-bodied as he completely severed his connection from the green muscle. Glancing back, Danny watched the creature collapse to his knees. He wasn't really moving. Maybe Danny had overestimated the amount of power he'd recouped? Or perhaps he'd used too much trying to take back control of His mind?
Small, angry green eyes clashed with Danny's as a sinister growl punctured the evening calm. Birds stopped chirping, squirrels stopped scrambling. Everything stopped.
Up above, Tony sounded worried, "Hey, you know you really should get out of here. Brucey'll calm himself down eventually."
Danny shook his head, "I can't risk Doctor Banner's experiment getting anywhere close to the city."
"Your call," Tony floated higher into the air, "But it looks like the giant teddy's just woken up from his nap."
Danny twisted his head sharply from Tony back to the green thing. He didn't look nearly as frail as Danny had first thought. In fact, the monster honestly looked downright menacing.
The halfa slowly stepped back, eyeing the creature uncertainly. He looked like a rabid bear, no sense of humanity left. Danny was taking as many precautions as possible not to anger Him.
It obviously wasn't enough. With an inhuman roar, Doctor Banner's creation pushed off the ground, rushing at the white-haired boy at an alarming speed. Danny had no time to react, he was too close. With a heavy fist, the creature slammed his knuckles into Danny's chest, sending him reeling into an old bur oak. As Danny slid painfully down, he heard the tree crack ominously and tossed himself into a narrow ditch as it fell with a mighty crash of breaking branches and upturned roots where he'd just laid. Danny heard a soft sympathetic hiss from above, but glancing up couldn't catch sight of Tony.
The monster had shifted his attention away from Danny, thinking him either dead or unable to fight. He lumbered past Danny, back in the direction of the city at a slow pace. He was obviously still weak, which gave Danny the upper hand.
Crawling silently out of the trench, Danny let the feeling of tangibility slip away from him as he slid into the ground carefully as the Hulk continued to stomp onwards. Rising through the ground to the left side of Him, forming corporeality again, Danny gave a cry, "Oh, no you don't!"
Striking out with a fist of his own, Danny catapulted Him towards a thick boulder, which shattered on impact.
Giving no time for the mutant to recuperate, the Halfa threw a volley of short violent ecto-energy blasts at the creature until Danny was left panting. Smoke rose off the crumbling remnants of the boulder and Danny struggled to see through it. As it dissipated, he spotted the large silhouette hunched over slightly, before He stood straight to his enormous height, swaying slightly with a heavy groan.
Danny shifted defensively. He wouldn't let that thing take him off guard again.
The monster shook his head roughly before letting out another battle-cry, heading towards Danny with the speed of a freight train.
Danny centred his core, inhaling deeply in his abdomen and staying stock still. The beast raised another fist, but was halted by Danny's much smaller hands wrapping around his wrist. Twisting his body, Danny rolled the green thing over his back and slammed it into the ground. The earth split into deep crevices where the monster landed.
Jumping back out of the monster's reach quickly, he sucked in a deep breath, his lungs burning uncomfortably as he waited for Him to stand.
Looking into the thing's vehement eyes as it rose to its feet again, Danny let out a hollow ghostly wail. It echoed through the forest, uprooting trees and destroying boulders. The monster stood in the centre of the growing destruction, hands in front of his face in protection, feet dug into the ground – taking the full brunt of the attack. Debris flew past, battering off muscular forearms and legs, but he didn't seem to notice or care.
Danny was tiring. The energy was being sucked out of him as he continued to howl and his need for oxygen grew – he couldn't hold it for much longer.
With a choking whimper, Danny's voice faded away, his hands falling to his knees in exhaustion as he struggled to catch his breath.
"Watch out!" a voice called from above.
Danny didn't even see Him coming before a large foot was rammed into his stomach, forcing the Halfa into the ground before the monster's large meaty hand grasped Danny's ankle – who let out a surprised yelp – whipping his body around as it began to spin in a tight circle, faster and faster like a hammer-thrower, before letting Danny go.
Danny cried out as he flew through the air, crashing through trees and smashing into the dirt, rolling to a stop over seventy feet away.
Slowly raising his head, Danny peered though the straight line of destruction he had unwillingly made, to where the Hulk was, now coming at him again with long lunges of his thick legs. With a soft groan, Danny shoved himself back onto his feet; tired, battered and bruised. Balancing himself, he clamped his wrists together, holding out his palms towards the green creature. Summoning all the ecto-energy he could stand to sacrifice into his hands, Danny waited until the thing was looming over him before he released it.
The green energy beam hit Doctor Banner's alter-ego directly in the face. The beast careened back, tumbling over himself and scraping the ground harshly as he landed. He didn't move to stand up again.
Danny grinned, stepping forward. He suddenly stopped as a sharp, stabbing pain ran through his thigh. Looking down, he discovered a large shard of rock jutting out of his leg. Swiftly pulling it out, he hissed in pain. Danny's whole body was sore, as he collapsed on the ground in relief. Now that the adrenaline had left him, he could feel the full impact of the fight. All Danny wanted to do was sleep for a few hundred years.
Spotting Tony up above in the bright night sky, Danny saw that the moon was full, and with all the ripped out and destroyed vegetation, the soft glow had crept its way into the clearing. He smirked and waved at the Ironman sardonically, before rolling over and passing out.
/ / /
Tony hovered above the clearing in disbelief. A teenage kid had gone against a creature that was capable of destroying cities single-handedly, and won. Admittedly, the Hulk had barely been able to stand on his own two feet to begin with, but still, the boy didn't seem to be too beaten up.
Catching movement below, he glanced away from the unconscious ghost-boy to the Hulk, tensing nervously in his suit as he watched the creature devolved back into a man. Bruce was back. Finally.
The long green limbs retracted, his face smoothed out and his body mass shrunk, leaving a thin, scraggly and confused doctor behind.
Tony landed heavily next to the scientist, switching off his thrusters.
"Ugh, can I get a number on that tank?" Bruce held a hand to his temple, wincing.
The scientist looked up at Tony, still in his full Ironman suit, disconcertedly, before surveying the battle-ground he had unknowingly fought on.
Tony observed the scene with fresh eyes. He supposed it did look bad. Splintered and uprooted trees, large sarsens half-crushed into rubble, and deep cracks littered the earth to make it look as if a demolition team had passed through.
"What happened? Did I hurt anyone?" Bruce's eyes had widened to almost comical standards.
Tony shrugged, "Not really. It just seems the freak was beaten by another freak. Albeit a dead one."
Bruce looked astounded at the idea that anyone being able to beat his creation into submission, "What?"
Tony released an airy sigh, speaking slowly as if to a toddler, "The ghost-boy, Danny, beat your sorry green self into the ground. Literally, at one point. He's laying over there, the kid with the white hair. Can't miss him," Tony casually waved his hand in the general vicinity of Danny as he looked over Bruce for any signs of major discomfort.
Bruce squinted to where Tony motioned, "You mean the boy with black hair."
"Black?" Tony slid his mask off, turning sharply on his heel and marching over to where he had left the fallen teenager. The white hair was gone, along with the olive tan and eerie glow. In replace, was a head of shaggy black hair and pale skin, dressed in a cotton shirt and jeans. Tony leant down and placed a hand on the boy's chest, feeling a steady heartbeat in response.
Tony twisted his head and smirked at Bruce, who had limped after him, peering over Tony's shoulder, "Well, this just got a little more interesting."