Right after that, the image of the beach vanished, leaving me in a void of shapeless darkness.
And right in front of me was Bruce.
Bruce was sitting there, reading a book, completely engrossed in it.
Even though I read a lot myself, I doubt I could focus on details the way Bruce does.
He genuinely loves knowledge.
"Oh? Peter? Why are you here?" Bruce looked up, surprised to see me.
"Why am I here? Bruce, come on, let's get out of here!" I stepped forward and grabbed his arm.
"Oh, thanks, but I'll pass!" Bruce raised his hand to stop me.
I raised an eyebrow, looking at him.
"Well, I actually like it here. No pressure, no yelling, no abuse, no being called useless. This place is the best I could ever imagine! Just reading and researching! Pure bliss!"
"Dude… this is your subconscious. Everything here is just your own creation. That means nothing here will help you gain new knowledge because, well, you already know it…"
"Eh, I know. Reviewing the knowledge I've already come across is fine by me," Bruce said, sitting down in a chair that I hadn't noticed before.
"So, you're just gonna stay here? Ignore the rest of us?"
"Hulk's got that covered. He's dumb but strong."
"Hulk's attacking me."
"Then I'll just give him an order. What's the big deal?"
"You're being brainwashed."
"…Yeah, maybe you're right. So just tell Hulk I ordered him to stop attacking, and it'll be fine."
I grabbed Bruce by the collar.
"Hey, get serious."
Bruce looked at me and pulled my hands away.
"Peter, I don't know how you got here… but this is my body. I have all the control."
"By staying here and not going back?"
"Yeah, I'm sick of the outside world. No one acknowledges my work, my family looks down on me, and Tony… well, he's not bad, but I get the feeling he's hiding something really dangerous, which makes him hard to trust."
"That's it? You're giving up that easily?"
"Yea… I mean, I'm not some idiot like Hulk, right? He's dumb, but he's confident." Bruce grabbed a cup of coffee and took a sip.
I stared at him as he mentioned Hulk.
"…Why do I get the feeling you're… jealous of Hulk?"
Bruce froze, put the cup down, and looked at me.
"…Am I that obvious? I only said one little thing about Hulk!"
"Whoa, I was just guessing, and I got it right?"
"What?! Ugh, are you kidding me?"
"Why are you jealous of Hulk?"
He looked down at his coffee and sighed.
"I don't know what you've seen in my memories… but what was my life like before Hulk got his green skin?"
It was rough.
Even though his situation seems kind of funny at first glance, when you look closer, it's incredibly harsh.
Abusive father, a mother so useless, no friends, a father who crushed his dreams, loneliness.
…Actually, looking closely, it's still better than my life in another universe? No, no, Peter… don't say that…
"Heh, your face tells me you already know what I'm like," he said, taking another sip.
"Honestly, I'm pathetically weak. I talk about helping humanity, but what have I done? Nothing. Not only have I failed, but I've also proven my father was kind of right. Becoming a doctor of science didn't get me anywhere. I should've just become a medical doctor or a lawyer."
"And Hulk? He's a part of me, but he's the complete opposite. Dumb, muscle-brained, confident, fearless, and bold. He's the perfect example of what I want to be."
"…" I looked at Bruce as he mocked himself.
The relationship between these two "twins" is really complicated. One cares and listens to the other, while the other is jealous because the first dares to think and act.
"I can even feel that he's strong enough to overpower my rationality and take control of the body, but he doesn't. Even though I've treated him pretty badly. Does he pity me or something?"
These two… they don't understand each other at all.
"So this moment, this moment when my consciousness is separated from my body, it feels like freedom. Now Hulk can fully use my body, and I can just chill here. It's a great deal!"
"He can save people, become a hero, just like I wanted. Though I'm pretty sure his stupidity won't help much, haha."
"I think you should shut up for a bit, Bruce Banner," I said, my voice low and direct.
"…"
I grabbed a chair and looked at him.
"Have you ever tried to understand him, to know what he likes or wants?"
"…Huh? What do you mean?"
"From everything you've said, it sounds like you feel hopeless about yourself, so you're both jealous of Hulk and want him to do what you couldn't, right?"
"…That's not what I—"
"Stop, no need to explain. I think you're just letting your greed take over."
Helping humanity sounds noble.
But if you want to help humanity, start by looking at yourself first. Otherwise, you might realize you're more of a villain than a hero.
"You keep talking about helping humanity, so what's Hulk to you?"
"He… he's my other personality, my weapon—"
"Enough! I'm sure you've lived with him long enough to know he's not just another personality."
"But he—"
"But what? You feel useless, so you're shoving your responsibilities onto someone else—someone who doesn't even want to do it. Don't you feel ashamed?"
"…Are you defending Hulk?"
"Yeah, I don't talk to him much, but I can see one thing: he's not just a destructive beast. He has clear emotions, especially when he talks about you."
"?"
Seeing Bruce's confusion, I sighed.
These two have a long, long way to go…
"Fine, I'm done talking. Hulk asked me to save you, but looking at you now, you're beyond saving. Stay here and keep reading your books. You deserve the abuse from your dad if you refuse to understand the one person who cares about you and act like you're the only one with a tragic past."
"What do you want me to do?! I want to help humanity, but no one acknowledges me! Not a single person!" Bruce stood up and shouted at me.
"Really?" I narrowed my eyes at him.
"…Why are you looking at me like that?"
"…huhhh, here's some advice."
I looked straight into his eyes.
"Stop treating Hulk like a weapon or whatever. He's more than that. Treat him well."
'Nya, get me out of here. Let him think about it on his own. I'm done.'
[Huh? Having fun, aren't you? That was a pretty intense comeback!]
'Oh, shut up!'
Right after that, I vanished, leaving Bruce standing there, stunned.
"…Treat Hulk well?"
…He'd never thought about that. After all, Hulk always followed his wishes in battle, so why would he need to do that to control him?
…Or did Peter mean to treat him well, literally?
"…I don't know how to do that."
No one had ever treated him well, so he didn't know how to do it either.
*****
I built Bruce as a delusional scientist type, with good intentions but morals that dwell in a gray area, or even worse.
Due to experiencing significant abuse and having no friends, he's somewhat emotionally detached when it comes to matters of humanity. That's why he views Hulk as a weapon, unlike the canonical Bruce, who sees Hulk as a volatile, rage-driven monster.