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*****
"Who are you?"
Watching Bruce Banner huddled on the ground, arms wrapped tightly around his chest like a mistreated young girl, Finy felt a bit of an eyesore.
When Hulk was shirtless, he was a spectacle of raw muscle and ferocious power. But on Banner, being shirtless just made him look like a disheveled wanderer—or worse, a suspicious middle-aged man.
Unfortunately, Finy couldn't exactly conjure clothes out of thin air for him. He simply replied in a flat tone, "A friend of Hulk's."
The moment Finy mentioned the name, Banner's expression shifted instantly. He looked up at Finy, who was still encased in the Incursio armor, and a faint memory of the news he had seen since arriving in New York finally flickered in his mind.
"You're that... what was it... the Knight!"
"..."
Finy's mood soured further. He felt that even if Banner had remembered the color silver, or the name "God's Punishment," it would have been better than just "Knight." It felt like a waste; when he was making friends with Hulk earlier, he had specifically introduced himself as a Mage.
"Do you remember what happened just now?" Finy asked, looking down at Banner. He chose not to bicker over the title, as he was genuinely curious whether Banner retained any memory of Hulk's actions.
Banner began to clutch his head, seemingly trying to force the memories to the surface. After a long moment, he shook his head tentatively. "I can't remember anything from before. What did that... that thing do?"
"His name is Hulk," Finy corrected, frowning.
That correction seemed to strike a nerve. Banner, still sitting on the ground, suddenly erupted, shouting at Finy, "He's a monster! A monster that destroyed my entire life!"
"And you've destroyed his life just as much!"
Finy stared back at Banner. They shared a single body, yet the number of times Hulk was allowed to exist could be counted on one hand, and even then, it was always accompanied by extreme danger.
Seemingly unwilling to argue further, Banner pushed himself up from the ground. "I don't know who you are," he muttered, "but I'm leaving. Goodbye."
Seeing him prepare to walk away, Finy casually cast a minor 'Explosion Magic' to vaporize the remnants of the fried chicken nuggets scattered on the ground. He then followed behind Banner, asking, "And where exactly do you plan on going?"
"I don't think that's any of your business."
Banner was exceptionally wary of Finy. Anyone dressed in such strange armor who could become "friends" with a monster capable of catching tank shells with its bare hands was clearly dangerous. Banner only wanted to purge the Hulk from his system and return to a quiet, normal life; he had no desire for further contact with someone like Finy.
"But the Hulk inside you is my business."
Finy wanted to befriend Hulk for two reasons: first, because of the giant's simple, straightforward personality—you didn't have to worry about hidden agendas with him. Second, of course, was his sheer power.
Hulk was the ultimate "experience farm." A single sparring match with him yielded as much progress as five fights against Mordo. Finy wasn't about to let a resource like that go.
Moreover, recalling the original timeline, Finy knew that when Hulk eventually left Earth for Sakaar, he was capable of living a peaceful life. He felt that, if possible, letting Hulk exist more permanently might actually be a good thing.
However, Finy wasn't an expert in Gamma radiation. If he messed up the process, he might end up with Hulk's consciousness trapped in Banner's frail body, which would be a total disaster.
Banner stopped in his tracks, turning to face Finy. "Listen. I don't care who you are. Please stop following me. I am never letting that monster out again."
"You can't guarantee that," Finy said, shaking his head. He looked Banner in the eye. "I'm guessing you found someone—someone who told you there's a way to cure you, right?"
Banner remained silent, hugging himself protectively while watching Finy with narrowed eyes.
"I'll go a step further and guess that you've already run some experiments. You've probably even seen some progress, which is why you're so confident now. Am I right?" Finy continued to press, stepping closer.
"In fact, you came to New York specifically to find that person. Isn't that right, Bruce Banner? Or should I say... Mr. Green?"
"Who are you?"
Banner recoiled, taking several steps back in shock. His instincts told him there was no way Finy could be "Mr. Blue," the contact he had been messaging.
"Do you believe in the future, Dr. Banner?"
Finy began to hover slowly into the air, his cape billowing in the wind. His silver armor gleamed brilliantly under the sunlight. His voice dropped to a low, resonant frequency that made Banner feel a chill despite the sweltering heat.
At that moment, Banner recalled news reports claiming Finy was a messenger of the gods—a spokesperson for a divine being descending upon the world. When he had first read those headlines, he had dismissed them as superstitious nonsense.
Now, a sliver of doubt crept into his mind. However, as a man with seven PhDs, he wasn't about to abandon his scientific worldview quite so easily.
"What exactly are you trying to say?" Banner asked, forcing himself to stay calm. Years of being a fugitive had taught him that while he couldn't always control his anger, he could at least try to think his way out of a situation.
"I want to save both Hulk and you," Finy stated, looking down from his vantage point. He intended to stabilize Banner's situation first. Since General Ross's current status was unknown, the military likely wouldn't have the resources to resume the manhunt immediately.
"Ha!"
Banner let out a cold, cynical laugh. "You just want to be like the others, don't you? Capture me and lock me in a lab for research?"
"It's not like that at all. Besides, if I wanted to capture you, you wouldn't be able to run anyway."
Finy wasn't exaggerating. Since he was already friends with Hulk, he could probably "kidnap" the giant easily with enough fried chicken. And as for Banner's human form? Finy could take down ten of him without breaking a sweat.
"Then tell me," Banner said, taking a deep breath. "How exactly do you plan on 'saving' us?"
Because he had been on the run for so long, Banner rarely had access to the media. He knew very little about Finy. It was only during his recent time with Betty that he had caught glimpses of news reports about the armored figure.
"You are symbiotic. Perhaps one day the two of you can become one, or perhaps you can be separated entirely," Finy said.
In truth, Banner had always been obsessed with erasing the Hulk, rather than considering a way to move the consciousness elsewhere. He might have thought about it, but he had never succeeded. Finy knew that if Banner eventually found a way to merge with Hulk, there had to be a way to reverse the process as well.
"Do you actually have a way?" Banner asked, his voice trembling with sudden hope. If he could be free of the Hulk, he was willing to pay any price. He had, after all, once reached the point of attempting suicide.
"As for merging... I might be able to help with that. But as for separating you? I'll need some time to think on that one."
Finy vaguely remembered that in the original story, after Thanos's snap, Banner spent months in a lab with Gamma radiation to achieve his "Professor Hulk" form.
Naturally, the current Banner wasn't interested in merging. At this point in time, he hadn't joined the Avengers, hadn't been to outer space, and hadn't suffered the crushing trauma that would later change his perspective. He still held onto the hope of simply becoming a normal man again.
"Then what do you want me to do?" Banner asked again. He didn't trust Finy's words completely, but he realized he had no way to escape him. Moreover, he was at the end of his rope. Even a sliver of hope was something he felt compelled to grasp.
That question actually gave Finy pause. Taking Banner back to Kamar-Taj was out of the question; that place wasn't meant for non-sorcerers to stay long-term, and even among sorcerers, not everyone was allowed in the Holy of Holies.
Bringing Banner to his own home was even less feasible. While Finy trusted Hulk not to hurt him, he couldn't guarantee the safety of others. From their recent encounter, it was clear Hulk's mind was still that of a child; if he had a tantrum, the house would be leveled.
Furthermore, Banner had a criminal record and was a high-profile fugitive. Keeping him close would be like carrying a GPS tracker—it would make keeping Finy's own secret identity nearly impossible.
After thinking it over for a long time, Finy finally spoke.
"Do you know Tony Stark?"
(End of Chapter)