General Ross stared at Bruce Banner on the experimental table, his face a mask of cold indifference. In his eyes, Banner was not his daughter's boyfriend. He was a monster.
Even if this monster had once stepped forward to fight Abomination, it did nothing to change Ross's perception. A monster was a monster, and monsters always caused trouble. As a staunch, iron-willed hawk, he would never allow any potential threat to persist.
Ross approached Banner and spoke evenly:
"Betty is getting married."
Banner's eyes widened, his face registering shock and disbelief. His fury surged, threatening to override reason, but it was useless. The sedatives coursing through his system left him powerless. He could not become the Hulk.
Ross continued, his voice calm but firm:
"I told her from the start that you were not the right choice. Now, she finally listened. As her father, I am very pleased."
A hint of satisfaction crept across his features. All of this the coerced compliance was the result of a simple threat. If Betty refused to marry, Banner would face inhuman consequences. In the end, she relented. Her single request had been to see Banner one last time before the wedding.
The request was modest. Ross cast Banner a derisive glance.
"She will come tomorrow. I hope you do not make her feel uncomfortable. You should know, being with you will not bring her happiness. You… monster."
Banner had been screaming in anger, but those final two words struck him harder than any blow. A sudden, crushing sense of sorrow washed over him. Ross was right. He was nothing but a monster. Without him in her life, Betty might have been happy.
The next day, Betty Ross arrived as promised. Despite her impending marriage, her face was void of any smile. Her fiancé was a good man, yet she did not love him.
Entering the military base, she was overwhelmed. Tanks lined the grounds. Soldiers wore advanced exoskeleton suits from StarkTech, each intersection guarded by Terminators. The monstrous APU combat mechs, with their devastating firepower, filled her with despair. She had hoped to rescue Banner, but as an ordinary woman, she realized she had no chance.
"Bruce Banner is inside. You may enter, but Betty, remember not to do anything unnecessary. This is a military base, and any attempt to rescue him could have unpredictable consequences," Ross warned.
Betty nodded, but her thoughts were already inside the room.
The door opened to reveal Banner restrained on a table, his limbs tightly bound.
"Bruce!" she cried, unable to hold back. She rushed to his side. Banner looked at her. The woman before him had once radiated youth and life, captivating him entirely.
"You've lost so much weight," Banner said, his voice heavy with sorrow.
Tears filled Betty's eyes. She was thinner, yes, but Banner himself was almost unrecognizable.
"Bruce…" she whispered, and that single word shattered every ounce of his mental restraint.
Before he could respond, she glanced at a surveillance camera and acted. She knew she was powerless, yet the moment she saw him, she knew she had to try.
Alarms blared instantly. Ross's face darkened.
"Control her!" he roared. He had assumed Betty would follow his orders, but now it was clear she had not given up.
Betty seized a small knife and began cutting at the restraints. One strap gave way. Victory was brief. Two T-800 Terminators stood at the doorway, raising their weapons and aiming at her.
Banner's eyes went wide.
"Betty!"
A primal fury ignited within him. The Hulk emerged.
The Hulk's strength comes from rage, and nothing fueled Banner's anger more than the threat to Betty. In an instant, the restraints that had held him so helplessly became meaningless. He shielded Betty with his immense frame.
Bullets, tranquilizer rounds, bounced harmlessly off him. He barely registered them. In moments, his rage swelled him to over four meters in height, and he obliterated the two T-800s with a single devastating blow.
A roar echoed through the base, shaking the walls.
Ross turned pale. The Hulk had emerged. But he remained confident. For this day, he had prepared every contingency. As alarms screamed, he issued his orders:
"All Hulk containment units, engage. All weapons at full power. Also…" He hesitated before adding, "Contact Nolan Rock."
Nolan had once defeated Abomination. If anyone could control this situation, it would be him. This was Ross's insurance policy.
Soon, advanced robots assembled. The Hulk containment squad was the military's elite. The atmosphere thickened with tension as the soldiers and their weapons readied for battle.
The Hulk, holding Betty securely, moved forward. Even with countless tanks and mechs barring his path, he destroyed everything effortlessly. He carried Betty with a strange sense of protection, despite her knowing this was no longer just Banner.
Meanwhile, Nolan received Ross's call. His initial surprise faded into indifference. Banner was coming out. As for the attempt to capture the Hulk, Nolan had no interest in opposing him. No one could predict how furious Hulk had become after months of confinement. He responded casually, then alerted Red Queen:
"Red Queen, scan all traces. I need to know where Bruce Banner is heading."
Hundreds of drones deployed from the Hive Dome, Nolan's own creation. Marvel's world had its share of geniuses, and Nolan intended to gather them all.
Outside, the Hulk smashed through the base defenses. Soldiers and mechs fell before him. His height now neared five meters, an unprecedented scale that mirrored his unparalleled strength.
From the command center, Ross watched in disbelief. He could not fathom such power. Even his elite forces were meaningless before the Hulk.
Finally, the Hulk reached the outskirts of the base. He paused, glanced at the relentless attackers, and leapt hundreds of meters away.
Nolan monitored him via drones. The Hulk containment base was not far from New York, a city brimming with potential heroes like Tony Stark and Nolan himself. Even Nolan could not help but pause at the sight of the massive green figure.
"Red Queen, do you think I could take him down?"
"Insufficient data. Probability assessment: Hulk overwhelmingly favored to win," she replied.
Nolan sighed. The outcome was obvious. Even if Thor himself intervened, he would be no more than a hammer against a god.
"Let's go observe," Nolan said. There was no need to fight. With Betty present, Hulk's rage would likely subside soon. Now, the focus was on safely bringing the top-tier scientist into StarkTech.
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