Revamped!

[I'll be honest. This chapter is my fucking favourite and it's so worth being over 2000 words]. [2020: Still one of my favourites].


Chapter 57: Symbiosis Part Ten

Nairobi, Kenya - 18:58 PM

Xavier runs out onto the street and the Hulk lands right in front of him, hands balled into shaking fists ready to attack him. Xavier takes a shaky breath as he runs over with the Hulk's roar ringing in his ears. Xavier jumps in the air and flips over the Hulk, using his shield and the Hulk's shoulders as a vault. Once Xavier lands on the other side, the Hulk spins around faster than expected and punches Xavier away right on the shield. He goes flying right into a nearby car, crashing through the front window.

Distracting the Hulk from Xavier, Angela jumps on the Hulk's back and uses a baton to try and choke it. She grunts and screams but when the baton breaks, The Hulk catches her and throws her on the ground. Before she could scurry, back the Hulk snarls down at her.

James flies in from above and begins shooting at the Hulk, flying rapidly all around, too fast for the Hulk to swat. When James flies in front of the Hulk, the Hulk claps with its full arms and the strong gust of wind sends James off. At that moment, Angela comes running back. She points two guns at him and fires them both simultaneously. Once her guns are out, the Hulk grabs her by one of her arms and hoists her up in the air. Angela grunts as she kicks at him since she can feel her arm leaving her socket.

She tries to fire with her free hand but The Hulk grabs her weapon and breaks it. He tries to smack her with it but James jumps on his shoulders and lights up his fists, shoving them against Daniel's neck to try and electrocute him. As the Hulk roars, he grips Angela tighter and James jumps off. The Hulk grabs James by the leg and uses him to swing at Xavier when he comes running back.

Then, an arrow lands at the Hulk's feet and ticks down before blowing up. The impact of the explosion sends the Hulk back and he accidentally throws Angela behind him. She hits the ground and rolls out of the way to avoid getting trampled by the Hulk. She screams to herself as she pops her arm back into place, the pain shooting through every nerve in her body.

Merida shoots another smoke bomb arrow that explodes the same way. She runs over with a newly loaded bow and slides through the Hulk's legs. While on her back, she fires another explosive but as she covers her face to protect herself from the impact, the Hulk picks her up and throws her into a traffic light. Merida slams into it and hears a crack, hoping it was her bow and not her ribs. She struggles to rise, attempting to ignore the acid that's now sloshing around her rib cage.

"This is just like graduation!" Xavier exclaims as some sort of motivation.

It's not a good cheer but he's not completely wrong. Both events had a Hulk that Daniel couldn't control and fighters that didn't know how to handle the situation. Back then they were inexperienced but now that they're trained, they still have the same goal of not wanting to hurt Daniel. Maybe the training makes up for having fewer numbers on their side. Iqadi's wind and lightning powers would've been useful about ten minutes ago.

"This isn't like grad!" Angela yells back.

"Because we don't have an Apollo!" James reasons. He looks up to the sky. "Apollo! Help us!"

No response from Asgard.

"Well, shit…" James mutters.

"We don't need Apollo," Merida says. "We have you."

James is taken aback for a moment. "Did the Hulk hit your head or are you complimenting me?!"

Merida rolls her eyes. "Can't you grow big?!"

"I've never tried it!"

"Do it! It's now or never!"

James pants. "I don't know if I can! I choose never!"

James inherited Pym particles from his parents. Like them, he can to shrink and, like his mom, he can shoot bioelectricity blasts and grow small wings. He knows that his dad could grow into a giant and so could his mom but she can't hold it. He isn't sure about himself.

Merida fires an arrow that lands in the centre of the Hulk's chest. It sends an electric current through his system. Angela decides to use this to her advantage.

"Xavier!" Angela exclaims as she starts running up to the Hulk.

She leaps in the air and raises her arms. In that second, Xavier throws the shield to her. Angela catches it and slams it into the Hulk's back. The Hulk turns around and roars as it punches Angela away. She falls on the shield which slides against the pavement. Angela covers her eyes from the sparks. Once it stops, she stands and makes eye contact with Xavier and throws the shield back towards him.

The Hulk gets in the way and the shield changes its trajectory. It slides at James's feet and he picks it up to throw it where it should be. The Hulk comes his way and James shrinks. To his surprise, the shield lands on top of his small form like a dome. Before James could get out, the Hulk starts pounding against the shield. All the deafening vibrations and waves cause James to cover his ears and scream as he feels his entire body tremble.

"I'm going to hate this!" He exclaims, but there's a first time for everything.

James squints his eyes shut and clenches up as he forces himself to grow to the size of a skyscraper. The Hulk falls onto its back and the shield goes flying. James staggers on his feet and is astounded by his new height. It takes him a moment to get used to this (and everyone chanting his name).

"You're doing great!" Angela yells at him.

-o-

PNG Quinjet - 19:19 PM

Daniel's plan was to go to Antarctica and get more samples of the virus that caused this catastrophe. This time, they all wore gas masks and covered every inch of their bodies. The virus was the gas state of it that infected Daniel but in the freezer he opened came with a solid that they melted down to a liquid and put in syringes. While making this plan, he figures that if someone took the time to make a virus to kill him then he might as well use it to save himself. It was all he had to work with.

Now, they're hovering above Nairobi with a clear view of the battle between the Hulk and their friends. They knew it wasn't going great if James took the risk to grow into a giant.

"Are you sure your organs won't burst out?" Emily asks Daniel, second-guessing his plan now that they're here. "You don't have a gamma gene for the virus to cling onto. You could end up like those scientists."

"Babe," Daniel says as he holds her head in his hands, "I do have a gamma gene."

Betty smiles as she lands the jet on the next block. Emily looks at Daniel with a puzzled look, trying to figure out what he means since Betty gets it. She looks at Daniel and then sees his Hulk. Then it clicks for her.

"I told you I had a plan," he says as he rolls up his sleeve and disinfects a spot in his arm. "I have a powerful brain."

"I love you and your powerful brain," Emily tells him, giving him a quick kiss.

"It's fascinating how this virus comes and works in all three states of matter," Betty says, "minus what it's done to you. You know that the main purpose of this virus is to find the gamma gene and take it out. Will it even accept an outside source and bring it back in?"

"That's why we're giving the Hulk some. Not only does this virus need a gamma gene but the gamma gene needs a host body which is me."

Betty looks at Daniel and trusts him and his plan as she injects the virus back in him.

-o-

Nairobi, Kenya - 19:22 PM

James looks down at the others and the Hulk. The benefit of this is that he's taller but the downside is that he feels so awkward and clumsy when it comes to this.

The Hulk jumps right on James's knee and he screams as he hears the Hulk snap something. James immediately balls the Hulk up in his fists and tries to hold him in. He manages to light up his fists and hopes that'll knock him unconscious. The Hulk punches its way out and pounces towards James's neck. All the air is knocked out of him as James falls on his back. The Hulk leaps in the air, about to do a grand slam on James's throat but Xavier's shield knocks him out of the way as James shrinks to his smallest size to use his wings to break his fall. Once he's back on the ground, he grows back to his normal size and stays down.

Emily runs up to Merida who's hunched over and gripping her chest in pain. She definitely broke something in there.

"Shoot this at the Hulk," Emily says, passing Merida the syringe.

"Keep the Hulk steady!" Merida yells at whoever isn't unconscious. She looks ahead and sees that only Angela and Xavier are still standing but James struggles to get up because they need him for their next plan. He won't need that busted leg for flying.

Merida attaches the syringe to one of her standard arrows with a rubber band. Nearby, Xavier picks up a chain on the ground and tosses it to James who stands behind the Hulk. He shrinks to catch it and wrap it tightly around the Hulk's waist by flying around a few times. He grows back to his normal size and throws the chain to Angela who stands beside Xavier. The twins both pull on the chains to keep the Hulk in place although the monster resists. Merida quickly fires the syringe which lands on its shoulder. James pushes down on the syringe so its contents enter the Hulk's body.

They all wait for something to happen.

Nothing, except for the Hulk pulling on the chains and sending the Rogers twins to the ground. Everyone was expecting some giant happy ending but nothing happened.

Then, to everyone's surprise, Daniel marches out with a glock in his hands. He stands in front of his Hulk and forces himself to take a step closer despite his desire to run the other way. The Hulk doesn't move simply because it recognizes Daniel now rather than when they were in the ocean. Daniel takes a breath as fear begins to take over his whole body. He's finally facing the one thing in the world that scares him the most and even if he didn't have the virus in his system, his organs would still feel like exploding out due to his nerves.

"You know what?" Daniel questions his Hulk pointing right at him with his free hand. "You were inside of me from the very beginning of my life and I was always afraid of you. Everyone was. They knew that I couldn't control you but their fear wasn't because of you. It was because of me. I was afraid to try to control you. There were days when I wished I never had you inside me, that I never wanted anything to do with you but now I know that I need you to survive and you might not believe this but you need me as well."

The Hulk roars at Daniel in disbelief at his statement.

"Fine, don't believe me." Daniel, with a still hand, points the gun right against the side of his head. "Do you want to take that risk?"

"You're bluffing," The Hulk tells him.

He's never heard his Hulk speak directly to him before so chills run down his spine. He almost drops his gun but tightens his grip. Daniel grins a little at that statement, ready to test his Hulk. He points his gun to the sky and shoots it to show that it's loaded before pointing it back at himself.

"You see?" Daniel tells his Hulk. "We're symbiotic organisms. If I put a bullet in my brain, then you're coming with me whether you like it or not because we've done enough. I'm asking you again, do you want to take that risk?"

Daniel is about to pull the trigger but the Hulk steps over to him and crushes the gun. The two of them look at each other. That's when Daniel realizes that the Hulk doesn't want to finish Daniel, but he doesn't want Daniel to pull the trigger for both of their benefits.

"Help me…" Daniel begs with tears in his eyes. "Please…"

The Hulk puts a hand on Daniel's shoulder which doesn't scare him as he thought it would.

"Stay alive…" The Hulk mutters to Daniel.

A tear falls down Daniel's cheek as he nods. He then starts crying out of joy. The Hulk, to his surprise, grins which in return makes Daniel smile even more. Daniel holds up his arm and uses a blade to make a cut in his arm. Daniel holds up his arm to expose the virus inside of him to his gamma gene also known as his Hulk. The virus comes out of his arm as a mist and takes the Hulk in as one. Daniel suddenly feels revived once the Hulk is back inside of him. He feels much more alive now, possibly more than before because now he accepts that he has a Hulk inside of him.

"That worked, right?" Daniel asks just to make sure as he turns around to face his friends and parents.

They all smile and nod excitedly as they see Daniel's eyes go from bright green back to brown.


[Say whatever you want but this chapter is fucking awesome. You can't disagree with me on that]. [2020: What makes it better for me is that I have a vivid memory of writing it for the first time].