[centre][img]https://i.imgur.com/8T07SSq.png[/img][/centre] [h3][COLOR=#70C26B]Reprise of Destruction[/COLOR][/h3] [color=#884CA6]1.03: Let slip the beast[/color] Bruce Banner shuddered as the stream of hot blood touched his face. As it dripped off his eyes, Bruce could now see that the blood trickling down on him was coming from Rick Jones’ left arm. The junior S.H.I.E.L.D. agent moaned in pain as his right hand grasped the wound on his left side. “Fuck,” muttered Rick before speaking into Bruce’s ear, “We need to move, or we will be dead in seconds.” As the junior agent spoke, he pulled himself and Bruce to their feet, another shot ringing out but missing its target. The bleeding Rick Jones managed to lead his friend past the green field, taking refuge behind the large metal body of the Quinjet. As the pair hunkered down, Rick pulled his firearm from its holster. “I counted at least two shooters. What about you Bruce?” asked Rick. But Bruce didn’t respond, his mind not present in this situation. His entire focus was on his breathing. As he tried to properly remember the techniques Dr. Samson had taught him, Bruce found his breaths getting shorter and more labored. Meanwhile in his chest, Bruce was feeling the raging presence of the Hulk. It took all of Bruce’s willpower to force the Hulk back into the pit of his body. [COLOR=#70C26B]“Rick, you got to go,”[/COLOR] said Bruce through labored breaths, [COLOR=#70C26B]“He’s going to get loose. I can’t let him out.”[/COLOR] “I mean would that be a bad thing?” questioned Rick, “The Hulk could take these guys out.” [COLOR=#70C26B]“But he wouldn’t stop there. He just creates tragedy,”[/COLOR] explained Bruce. It was as Bruce was talking that he realized that the shooting had stopped. Looking over at Rick, he saw that he had realized it as well. Rick rose to his feet, his gun at the ready. Bruce gingerly got to his feet as well, still forcing the Hulk down. Rick then dared to peak his head around the side of the Quinjet, only to be immediately shot at. “Damn it, run Bruce,” stated Rick as he pumped his legs. Bruce had only a second of seeing the squad of men carrying assault rifles, before he turned and ran after Rick. The two men ran into the nearby forest, the massive redwood trees granting them cover from the team of what seemed to be black ops operatives. Bruce continued to run at maximum speed, finding that he was getting winded quickly. [COLOR=#70C26B]“C’mon,”[/COLOR] muttered Bruce as his lungs burned. [COLOR=#51824F]“Puny Banner,”[/COLOR] laughed a voice within Bruce’s head, [COLOR=#51824F]“I’m right here. I can run. I can also smash!”[/COLOR] Bruce just shook his head, but he could tell that he couldn’t keep us this pace much longer. And sure enough after a few minutes, Bruce could tell that he was running on fumes. And to make matters worse, Bruce had lost track of Rick among the massive trees. A burst of gunfire from behind Bruce told him that the soldiers had caught up with him. Unleashing a torrent of curses, Bruce just narrowly avoided several shots, landing less than a foot from him. As he did so, Bruce began to feel like he was about to collapse. His breathing was so ragged that it was affecting his vision. As he faded in and out, a barrage of gunfire came at Bruce. But then he leaped into the air, his legs becoming green and massive. As Bruce landed back on the forest floor, he had trouble breathing, and felt the monster within rising up. The scientist then collapsed to the ground. As his vision went between light and dark, Bruce then fell into unconsciousness. And the Hulk awakened. The body of Bruce Banner then convulsed as his muscles grew in size, his clothes ripping, and his body turning green. With a roar, the Hulk rose to his feet, pulling off the shredded remains of Banner’s shirt. [COLOR=#51824F]“Who wants to fight the Hulk?”[/COLOR] chuckled the Hulk loudly. The response came in the form of bullets as the soldiers surrounded the Hulk. The shots did indeed hit the Hulk, but they only bounced off his hide, feeling more like mosquito bites. So all that did was annoy the Hulk. With a grimace on his face, the Hulk pounced at the nearest soldier, who then emptied all the bullets in his gun into the Hulk’s chest. But the green giant ignored it, instead grabbing the rifle with one hand and grasping the man by the neck with his other hand. The Hulk then threw the rifle against a redwood tree, causing it to shatter. With his other hand he tossed the soldier at one of his comrades, causing them both to collapse to the ground. The remaining three soldiers began to back up. The Hulk then rushed at them, grabbing two of them by the head. He then slammed both of their heads together, causing a major concussion at the least. The last standing soldier then went into a full on run, dashing away from the battle. [COLOR=#51824F]“And this little piggy ran all the way home,”[/COLOR] muttered the Hulk. Then with a mighty leap, the Hulk rose into the upper levels of the forest. Then with pinpoint accuracy, the Hulk landed on the fleeing soldier. Pinning him to the ground, the Hulk grinned at him, his face only centimeters from his. [COLOR=#51824F]“So who are you?”[/COLOR] asked the Hulk, [COLOR=#51824F]“Why did you shoot at Banner and his friends?”[/COLOR] The soldier began to cry as he replied, “Look, we were just ordered to take out any S.H.I.E.L.D. agents that showed up. That’s all the General said.” At the mention of a General, the Hulk remembered General Ross, the man who spent a year trying to kill the Hulk. To the green giant it made sense that Ross would try to kill him while he was puny Banner. But as he thought this, the Hulk noticed that the soldier had peed a little bit. [COLOR=#51824F]“Gross!”[/COLOR] shouted the Hulk as he tossed the man away from himself. The man collided with a giant redwood, going limp as he did so. The Hulk sighed as he got to his feet. He wasn’t going to get anything from the unconscious soldiers, so the Hulk decided to explore around. It had been awhile since he had been unleashed, so he wanted to take as much advantage of this opportunity as possible. The Hulk breathed in the fresh forest air as he walked in a random direction. After a little bit he found a road running through the redwood forest. Deciding to follow it, the Hulk wondered if there would be anyone else to fight up ahead. After following the road for a few miles, the Hulk saw a sign: Welcome to Ferndale, Population: 1,371.