The room was dim, the only light coming from the humming machinery wired across the walls. Electrodes lined Bruce Banner's skin, each one connected to a crude but carefully calibrated device. His breaths were shallow, his chest rising and falling as if bracing for an execution.
"Come on… just work this time," Bruce muttered under his breath. His hands trembled as he flicked a final switch. Sparks danced across the console, and the machine came alive with a piercing whine.
A surge of electricity jolted through him. His body arched against the restraints, teeth clenched as he fought to stay conscious. For a moment—just a moment—the monster inside stirred, clawing at the edges of his mind, its roar echoing in his skull.
"Get… out of me!" Bruce gasped, sweat dripping down his face. The green flicker crept over his eyes before fading again under the strain of the current.
The machine's dials spun wildly, alarms blaring. His heart pounded like a war drum.
Then—
BOOM.
The walls shook. Dust rained from the ceiling.
Through the small reinforced window, Bruce saw the familiar flash of military floodlights sweeping over the compound. Armored vehicles rolled in, soldiers pouring out with weapons raised.
"Not now… oh, not now," Bruce whispered, panic lacing his voice.
The machine crackled and sparked as he tried to hold it steady, fighting to complete the process. But the doors were already being blown open by breaching charges.
"Banner! Stand down!" a soldier's voice boomed over a loudspeaker.
Bruce shut his eyes. His pulse was already rising. The soldiers weren't here for science — they were here for him.
And if they pushed him too far, the very thing he was trying to purge might come crashing back out.
Bruce's heart hammered in his chest, the machine still sparking wildly as he tore off the straps. The alarms were deafening, but not as loud as the pounding boots closing in.
Stay calm. Stay calm. Don't let it out.
He ripped free the last electrode, gasping for air, and bolted toward the rear exit of the lab. His legs carried him through the narrow corridor, past scattered equipment and half-finished experiments. Floodlights outside swept across the compound walls. Shouts echoed:
"There! Banner's moving! Block him off!"
Gunfire rattled, concrete bursting apart as bullets chased him. Bruce stumbled into a side hall, clutching his ribs. Each burst of adrenaline made it worse — his pulse climbing, veins swelling beneath his skin.
Not now… not now, damn it!
He shoved through a maintenance door and spilled into the open yard. Spotlights flared in his face. Dozens of soldiers leveled their rifles, red laser dots dancing across his chest.
"Banner! On the ground! Now!"
Bruce raised trembling hands, backing away. His breathing was ragged, uneven. His skin twitched with faint green ripples.
"I… I don't want this… I don't want to hurt you," he pleaded.
A commander stepped forward, barking: "Take the shot!"
The first tranquilizer dart hit him in the shoulder. His body jerked. Another slammed into his thigh. His knees buckled, and his vision blurred. Pain mixed with fury.
And that was it.
The pulse that he'd tried so hard to keep steady finally spiked. His body convulsed, eyes glowing an eerie green as his breath turned into a growl.
"No… NOOOO!"
His muscles tore through his clothes, bones shifting, skin rippling. The soldiers opened fire in a panic as Banner's body erupted outward. A roar shook the compound like an earthquake.
The Hulk had arrived.
Bullets pinged off his hide like raindrops. He charged forward, a blur of green muscle, smashing through the first armored vehicle like it was made of paper. Soldiers scattered, screaming, as he hurled a jeep across the yard. Explosions lit the night sky.
Tanks rolled in, their cannons thundering, but Hulk's rage only grew. He ripped a steel barricade from the ground and swung it like a club, sending men flying. Helicopters whirred overhead, searchlights tracing his path — until one was grabbed from the air and smashed into the compound walls.
Through the chaos, Bruce's human consciousness clawed desperately inside the monster's mind.
Stop! Don't kill them! Just… run…
But the Hulk's roar drowned everything out.
Rampaging, he plowed through the last blockade and smashed open the outer wall, vanishing into the dark wilderness beyond.
What was left behind was fire, ruin, and soldiers too terrified to pursue.
The compound burned behind him, flames licking at the night sky. Hulk's pounding footsteps faded into the wilderness, each stride shaking the earth until only silence and smoke remained.
Inside the wreckage, soldiers coughed through the haze, dragging their wounded out of collapsed structures. Vehicles smoldered, twisted like broken toys. A helicopter rotor still spun, whining until it screeched to a stop.
General Ross stepped through the smoke, his jaw clenched so tight it could've cracked stone. His uniform was scorched, one arm bandaged hastily, but his eyes burned with the same fury as the creature he hunted.
"Status report," he snapped.
A captain staggered forward, helmet gone, face pale with ash. "Sir… multiple casualties. Armor units destroyed. He—he broke through the perimeter. We couldn't contain him."
Ross's glare cut him down like a knife. "You think I don't know that, Captain?!"
He turned, staring at the jagged hole in the wall where Hulk had torn his way out. His chest rose and fell heavily. The whole operation had been calculated, every angle covered, every soldier briefed on "non-lethal" containment. And still…
Still the monster slipped through.
Ross spat on the ground, muttering: "Damn it, Banner. How long are you gonna keep running from me?"
Meanwhile, deep in the mountains, the Hulk's rampage slowed. His roars quieted into haggard breaths, his massive shoulders heaving with exhaustion. Trees were snapped in his path, boulders shattered underfoot, but now the night was still.
He stumbled into a clearing, knelt, and slammed his fists into the earth with one last frustrated growl. Slowly, the rage ebbed, muscles shrinking, skin paling.
When the green faded, Bruce Banner lay in the dirt, shirt torn to ribbons, his body trembling with weakness.
His mind reeled from fragments of what Hulk had done — the fire, the soldiers, the destruction. He buried his face in his hands, whispering hoarsely:
"I can't control it… I can't stop it…"
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