Chapter 21: Banners Day
Throughout his Heroic career, Ben thought that he'd never meet anyone more stubborn and hot-headed as Kevin. Course at that point in his life he did not take alternate dimensions into account. That's where he met someone who's temper and stubbornness where beyond anything he'd ever thought was possible.
"No." grunted the Incredible Hulk, as he sat on the couch with his arms crossed.
Standing opposite him, with his fingers pinching the bridge of his nose, is the Ultimatrix Wielder, Ben Tennyson. "Come on, dude. Can you at least consider it?"
"I said, No." Hulk repeated, growing more annoyed by the second.
"Hulk, you're not being fair." Ben pleaded.
"I don't care." The Green Goliath barked back. "This has nothing to do with you. He made a deal with me. And that's how its gonna stay."
Now it was Bens turn to get annoyed. "A deal you forced him into!" Ben countered. "You backed him into a corner and made him give up his life. Not cool, Dude."
"I don't care. Hulk stays Hulk. Not puny Banner." Hulk said stubbornly. Giving the Teen a harsh glare, showing that he was not backing down from this.
Again, Ben groaned in frustration as he face palmed. Ever since he met the man during the Gamma World event, the Alien Avengers has made several attempts to convince his Green Friend to allow his human side to come out for a little while, instead of being trapped inside the Hulks mind 24/7. But each time he's so much as mentioned the Scientist, the Gamma Brute had flat out denied him at every opportunity. But this time, the Alien Hero was not going to back down.
"Look, Big Guy. I know you and Bruce made a deal. But you have to know that Banner has a life of his own. And it's not fair that he has to spend all his time trapped inside your head. I'm not asking you to go back on the deal. I'm just asking you to give up one day, each month." Ben explained to the Gamma Giant.
Hulk simply grunted in response and looked away from the Alien Avenger. At first, the Teen thought he was being given the silent treatment. But as he observed the Strongest Avenger, seeing how he was glaring at one spot and clenching his fist. He started to realise that Hulk was actually glaring at Bruce Banner. At least, where he was seeing Banner in his mind. Ben remembered how Bruce had told him, he had found a way to communicate with the Hulk, while he was transformed. So he figured, this must be what it looked like when they were talking.
But it seemed that whatever the Scientist was saying to the Green Goliath, was not sitting too well with him as he shook his head and growled. "I stay the Hulk. Not Banner. And I'm done talking."
With that Hulk stood up and stomped his was out of the room, brushing past Ben as he did so. For a moment the Alien Avenger stood motionless. He then turned his head to the Hulk as he was exiting the room.
"Ya know. You keeping Banner trapped inside your head. Makes you no better than he was, when he kept you trapped in his." Ben stated, bluntly.
In that moment, Hulk froze. And for one brief moment both Alien Shapeshifter and Gamma Bruiser remained as still as statues, as if time itself stopped to see what was going to happen. Sadly, it seems that the Green Giants stubbornness was as limitless as his rage. As the Hulk proceeded to walk out of the room and up the stairs to his room. Leaving Ben alone to mull over another failed attempt to help the Hulks other half.
Midnight. For most people, this would be a time for them to sleep and regain their strength for the day ahead. But in the City that never sleeps, people, cars and lights continued to go about their routines as if nothing has changed. With the exception of a few drunken hooligans that made the smart choice to paint the town. But in the case of one individual, he was spending the first moments of the new day in a different manner.
In his dark room within Avengers Mansion, the Incredible Hulk was sitting at the foot of his bed, glaring at the mirror that was opposite him. For any normal person, looking into a mirror usually resulted in your own reflection staring back at you. But for the Hulk, when he looked into the reflective surface, all he saw was his other half. Bruce Banner.
For a while the two personalities just stared at each other in silence. Though not complete silence with Hulks heavy pants echoing through the room.
"You gonna try to talk me into it too?" Hulk eventually asked.
Bruce said nothing as he kept his eyes on his Monstrous counterpart. This however only made the Hulk angrier as he started to growl in frustration.
"You've been looking at me all night. I know what you're gonna say, so say it." He spat at the mental image.
"Do you?" Banner suddenly spoke, catching the Hulk off guard slightly. "We've both heard what Ben has to say about our arrangement. But that doesn't mean that I agree with what he said."
Now the Hulk was really getting confused. He was expecting the puny scientist to pile on what Ben had said and continue to try and convince him to give up control of the body. But he was not prepared for this kind of response.
"Y-You're not gonna try to get me to let you out?" He asked in a confused, but sceptical tone.
Banner shock his head. "I know the deal we made, Hulk. I am willing to make the sacrifices necessary for it. But if you decide to let me out for one day. Then that choice is up to you and you alone."
And with that finale word, Banners image started to shimmer and then fade completely, leaving hulk to stare at his own reflection. It was in the moment that the Green Giant did something he'd never thought he'd ever do. Actually think about what Banner had said to him. Throughout his existence, Hulk had always been clear about his hatred for his smarter, weaker and smaller half. He hated how he was so weak and puny, how he always ran away from a fight, how he used to try and get rid of him and how he'd always look down on him cause he was the respected genius and he was the big stupid monster. After all that, Hulk felt that his actions were justified.
But as he thought about what Banner said about his sacrifices. Hulk knew exactly what the Scientist was talking about. Or more accurately, who he was talking about. It was in that moment Hulk started to reflect on himself. All his life he and everyone around him, thought of him as a monster. Even to this day, despite everyone telling him otherwise, he still thought that about himself. But during his time with the Avengers, he'd slowly come to think of himself as a hero like the others. But how could he ever call himself a hero, if he denied the freedom of another person, even if it was someone he didn't like?
Hulk then closed his eyes, took a deep breath and sighed. He laid down on his bed and stared at the ceiling for a for moment before closing his eyes. The sun will be rising in a few hours, and he had a lot to think about.
The morning came as it usually does, with the sun rising over the horizon and the people going about their morning routines. This was no exception for the Avengers, as almost every resident within the mansion was going about their morning activities. However for the resident Alien Shapeshifter, his routine had reverted back to its original settings. By tearing apart the training room as Rath once again. Though this time the Teen Hero was considerate enough to allow his teammates to use the training room before he demolished it. Something, Hawkeye, Captain America and Black Panther greatly appreciated.
But the reason for the Teens sudden return to this violent action, was not the same as what had started them in the first place. The Alien Hero had made great progress in his recovery from his grief. No, the reason for this outburst, was the result of Bens increased frustration with the Hulks stubbornness. He couldn't help but feel so useless in his repeated failures to convince the Green Giant to let his alter ego out and live his life. It was like he was unable to rescue someone that was right in front of him. He knew there had to be a way, but he just couldn't find it. It was driving him crazy.
With one more powerful roar of anger, Rath tore through the last of the machines that were deployed to face him. Crumpling the metal like paper, the only sound left within the wrecked training room were the echoes of the Tiger Alien's pants.
"Let me tell you something, Hulk: Strongest one there is. Rath will get you to let Puny Banner out. Even if Rath has to pull him out of your head Rathself." The Alien vowed with a growl.
With that the Alien Hero tapped the Ultimatrix symbol and transformed back into Ben. A determined look, present on the young Avengers face. He was gonna get Hulk to turn back into Banner and he wouldn't take no for an answer.
A few minutes later, Ben exited the elevator from the sub levels of the mansion and marched straight for the kitchen. He knew Hulk would be up at this time and would've probably eaten half the contents of the fridge for breakfast. So odds are, he'd be catching him in a good mood. He swiftly rounded the corner, fully prepared to give the Green Giant an earful. But just as entered the kitchen and saw who was sitting at the table, the words got caught in his throat. Cause sitting at the table, calmly eating a bowl of nutritional cereal….
Was Bruce Banner himself.
The Scientist looked exactly the same as the day Ben first met him months ago. Only now he was wearing clothes that actually fit him, complete with a new pair of unripped purple pants, a white t-shirt underneath a blue hoodie.
For a full minute, Ben just stood there in stunned silence, staring at the scrawny man like he was the strangest thing he'd ever seen in his entire life. After the scientist swallowed another mouthful of his cereal, he finally acknowledged the teens presence in the room by glancing in his direction.
"I understand you are surprised, Ben. But you had to have known that your conversations with the Hulk, would have had some impact." Bruce said in a calm tone.
In that moment, Ben shock his head to get over his shock and proceeded to walk over to the chair opposite Bruce. "Sorry. It's just that… Well… I'm just surprised that he actually let you out." Ben admitted.
"This isn't permanent." Banner stated as he finished of his breakfast. "Hulk is allowing me 24 hours to control our body and let me do what I would like to do."
"Oh." Ben responded, slightly disappointed that, that's all the time the man had. But at the same time, he was glad the Big Guy changed his mind. "So he's just letting you have today?"
"For now." Bruce explained. "Per our new agreement, he is going to let me out for one day every month for the foreseeable future."
"I see. Well that's not too bad. Sorry it isn't longer, dude." Ben apologised.
However Banner simply chuckled in response to the Teens comment. "You have no need to apologise, Ben. In fact, I should be thanking you. Your friendship with the Hulk has helped him develop into the force of good, I believed he could become. It is because of the way you have inspired him, that I am even sitting here talking to you at this very moment."
The Scientist then held out his right hand to Ben, then took his hand and shock it.
"Thank you, Ben Tennyson." Banner finished saying.
The Alien Avenger couldn't help but smile warmly at the heartfelt gratitude the scientist was giving him. "You're welcome, Bruce."
After that, Ben decided to take that moment to get himself some breakfast. With everything that transpired in the last few minutes, the Teen had almost forgotten how hungry he was. He then to put together some pieces of toast for him to eat and then returned to his seat at the table.
"So, Doc." Ben started to say, catching the Scientists attention. "Do you have any plans for how you're gonna spend your day?"
This was something that Ben was genuinely curious about. Aside from witnessing the man's intelligence first hand, he knew nothing about the man. What was this man's life like before the Hulk showed up?
Banner didn't respond right away. Instead he looked down at his empty bowl for a moment, moving his spoon around absent mindedly before setting it down.
"This is one thing I've been wanting to do ever since the Hulk and I returned to the city." Banner admitted. "Or more accurately, Someone I've wanted to see for a long time."
Now that was something that Ben understood all too well. The look in his eyes, the way he said 'someone'. That could only mean one thing. He was talking about a girl. In that moment, Ben didn't see a brilliant scientist, or a man haunted by the monster within him. He saw an actual human being.
"I see." The Teen responded, leaning back into his chair. "And are you planning on going to see this person?" He asked, intrigued.
"I… I'm not sure. It's been a long time and the last time a saw her. Things didn't really end well." Bruce explained looking a little nervous as he did.
"Dude, you've only got one day to do whatever you want. You can't waist it on a 'what if?' If this girl really means that much to you. Then you need to go for it." Ben said encouragingly.
Banner then looked at the Alien Teen with a surprised look. "How did you know I was referring to a woman?"
Ben then gave the scientist an incredulous look. "Come on, Bruce. It's so obvious."
"… Even so. My situation with her is… complicated. If I go and see her, I run the risk of putting her in danger from other parties that are after the Hulk." Banner than stated, trying to avoid the topic.
In response, the Young Hero raised his eyebrow. "Really, you're using that excuse? Dude, SHIELD's been keeping all those government guys off your back, when the Hulk joined the Avengers. You've got a full pardon from all the supposed crimes you've been tagged in. You're literally a free man."
For a moment it looked as though the Gamma Scientist was gonna continue arguing with him. But he then paused and took a moment to think. It had been so long since the man could walk around outside without looking over his shoulder, it had practically become second nature to him. The idea that he could actually have a normal day seemed like a foreign notion to him.
"Well then." Banner started to say. "If that is the case. I should get a move on."
A smile then formed on the Young Heroes face. "Awesome. Ill go get my jacket."
Now it was Banners turn to raise his eyebrow. "Why are you coming with me?"
"Dude, this is your one free day. While I did say that those government agents won't be coming after you. There's still a chance of a supervillain attack or a robbery of some kind and I am not gonna let that ruin your day by having you Hulk out." Ben explained cheerfully to the Scientist.
"So you're going to act as my bodyguard?" Bruce asked sceptically.
"More like your Banner's Day, travel buddy." Ben stated with a smug expression.
In response the scientist gave the teen an incredulous look. "We are not calling my day of freedom, Banners Day."
"Oh come on dude. It'll be like a mini holiday, well make a cake, get balloons, it'll be a blast." Ben playfully mocked.
Banner simply rolled his eyes as he got up from the table and took his bowl to the sink to be cleaned. At that moment, Janet suddenly walked into the kitchen with a cheerful expression.
"Hey, Ben. Beautiful day. I was wondering if you wanted to…" She suddenly stopped when she saw Bruce Banner standing opposite her.
"Who the heck are you?"
Needless to say, Ben did not expect Janet to punch the man. One minute she was looking at him asking who he was, next second BAM, right in the mouth. Lucky for him, she hit like a girl. And he meant that in the nicest way possible, Janet may be a hero, but her power manly comes from her stingers. She had not received a lot of training in hand to hand combat, especially how to punch properly, so her punch didn't leave a noticeable mark on the Scientists face. Course that didn't make the situation any less funny, when the Scientist fell to the ground like crumbled paper.
It took a while for the Teen Hero to catch his breath after laughing so hard. Once he regained his composure, he quickly cleared up the confusion. Leading to Janet frantically apologising to the Scientist, both out of regret and fear of what the Hulk will do to her when he comes back.
After that was all cleared up, the Alien Avenger and Gamma Scientist left the Mansion in the Quinjet, heading towards Virginia. To a little place called Willowdale. Certainly wasn't a place, Ben was expecting to go. But hey it was Banners Day, he was the one in control. Something that the Scientist had a hard time grasping that concept. As the Scientist kept looking around the cockpit anxiously shifting in his seat, and kept his hands clasped together like a little kid who was told to sit still and not touch anything. Seeing him like this, made Ben hope that whoever they were going to visit, she could help him get over his insecurities.
After a few minutes, Bruce told Ben where to set the jet down. In an open field near their town. From there the two made their way into the area, Ben still having no clue where they were going. At least until they arrived at the gates of a place called Culver University. That's when Ben mentally scolded himself. Of course the man would go straight for a College Campus.
As they walked through the campus grounds, Ben started to notice that the Scientists body language started to change, he seemed less nervous and a little more. Excited. His posture straightened, his pace quickened. He acted less like a suspect on the run and more like man on a mission. After a few minutes of walking, the pair arrived outside of a large building that had several student walking in an out of it with the occasional teacher walking around as well. For a while Bruce just stood on the path at the foot of the stairs, gazing up at the doors of the building watching all the people entering and exiting as he scanned the crowed looking for someone. Even Ben followed the Scientists example and started to scan through the crowd. He had no idea who he was looking for, but he had the feeling he might know if he saw her.
Sure enough, after waiting for what felt like an hour, someone did exit the building that caused the Gamma Scientist to go ridged. She was a rather attractive woman. Average build, with long brown hair and blue eyes. She wore a long white lab coat over her brown pants and grey shirt.
The woman casually looked around as she exited the building, unaware of what was about to happen. As she started her decent down the stairs, her eyes finally laid upon Bruce Banner and like him, she froze in position. Her eyes wide and her mouth slightly a gap. From Bens point of view, they looked like two statues in the middle of a flowing stream of people. During that time, the woman's eyes started to turn a shade of red as tears started to well up in her eyes. Bruce mirrored her emotions as a smile started to spread across his face. Before either of them knew it, they both dashed towards each other and passionately wrapped each other in their arms. Banner even impressed the Teen, when the scrawny man lifted the woman off the ground and spun her around in his arms. For a moment, the whole scene looked like one of those cheesy romance movies that Janet once made him watch.
After a while, the crowd of people started to disperse and the reunited love birds eventually stopped their twirling and Bruce set the woman down allowing them to separate slightly, but kept their arms connected as if they were afraid the other would get swept up in the wind. During the whole exchange, Ben kept a polite distance from the pair so he wouldn't accidently eavesdrop on their conversation. After who knows how long apart, they deserved to have a moment to themselves.
The Teen Avenger, lost track of how long he was standing there. But his mind was instantly brought back into the present when Banner called out his name. Causing the Teen to look in their direction to see the couple approaching him.
"Ben Tennyson, I'd like to introduce you to Dr Betty Ross. Head Scientist and Professor here at Culver University." Bruce introduced.
Ben smiled at the woman as he politely shook her hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you Dr Ross."
"The pleasure is all mine." Betty responded. "I am happy to meet any of Bruce's friends. I've been hearing a lot of reports on the Hulk with the Avengers. I am so happy to see that he's no longer considered a criminal."
"Oh yeah, the Big Guys been a real key player when it comes to taking down the bad guys. No one smashes like he does." Ben stated, giving Banner a playful nudge as he did.
Betty continued to beam as Bruce started to look a little bashful. "That is wonderful to hear. I I'm sure Bruce has been contributing a lot in helping design containment methods and helping Dr Pym create cures for some of the criminals?"
That question immediately caused both men to lose their smiles. In all the excitement, it was starting to occur to Ben that Banner had not told Betty about his arrangement with the Hulk.
Bruce then cleared his throat as he nervously looked at the female scientist. "Um. Betty, is there someplace more private we can talk? There's something I need to tell you."
Now it was Bettys turn to look nervous. "Of course, Bruce. My office is this way."
And with that, the two scientists and Alien Shapeshifter headed inside to continue their discussion. Once they were inside, Bruce then sat Betty down and began the long process of calmly explaining the entire situation to her. His arrangement with the Hulk, his role in the Gamma World incident, his recent deal with him, everything. Needless to say the woman was less than pleased with the news. Seeing her reaction almost made it hard for Ben to watch. Once Banner was done explaining, Betty clasped her hands together in front of her mouth and breathed heavily, doing her best to hold back tears.
"… I thought we would have more time. Of all days for you to come." Ben suddenly heard Betty mumble from behind her hands.
"Beg your pardon?" Bruce questioned, having also heard the mumble as well.
She didn't answer right away, as she was taking a moment to compose herself, still reeling from the news.
"Today, I was to go and meet up with a friend to conduct some research on an old project. I thought Bruce and I could meet up after and resume where we left off. But now that I know that you only have 24 hours as yourself…"
Bruce then walked over and took Betty's hand in his. "Betty, I had not exactly planned out how I wanted the events of today to play out. But if I can have a day to work alongside you, like we did before all this. I would consider that the best day I have ever had."
In that moment, Betty looked into Bruce's eyes and they both smiled at each other. But then Bettys smile faded as she gave the Gamma Scientist a serious look.
"Bruce… The experiment is happening in Vista Verde." Betty told him.
Upon hearing that name, Banners eyes widened in shock. And he immediately backed away from her, trembling as he tried to steady himself.
To anyone who didn't know the Gamma Scientist backstory, this reaction would be a little confusing. But to Ben, it was completely understandable. Vista Verde is a town in New Mexico, the place where Bruce conducted his experiment with Gamma Radiation. The place where the Hulk was born. It made sense that Banner would have some reserved feelings in regards to returning to that place.
Seeing his reaction, Betty immediately got up to console the man. "I'm sorry, Bruce. But this is important. The work that we are conducting out there could be revolutionary."
"That's precisely what we said when we first time we went out there." Bruce replied, harshly.
In that moment, Betty reached up and placed a hand on Bruce's shoulder. "I'm sorry, Bruce. I know how you feel about that place. So I won't ask you to come. But I do have to go. I hope you can understand."
For a moment, everyone was silent. Ben simply sat back and watched the exchange with anxious anticipation to what the Gamma Scientists response would be. It was at this moment, Ben was starting to feel like he was just an observer in this situation. He didn't know how to contribute to this conversation. He just hoped that when he did step in, he could be able to help.
Bruce raised his hand and placed it on Bettys cheek, which she then leaned into affectionally. Their eyes then locked with each other.
"Ok. I'll come."
Needless to say, neither Ben or Betty ever thought they'd hear him say that.
"You sure about this, Bruce?" Ben asked, concerned.
"I am. I cannot run from this anymore. The Hulk and I are partners now. I cannot let my past hold me back anymore." Bruce said in a confident tone. "Plus if we all go together, the Quinjet can get us there faster."
In response, Betty smiled and hugged the Gamma Scientist, which he then returned with a warm smile of his own.
A few hours later, the Quinjet entered the airspace above New Mexico. Ben was in the cockpit flying the jet as he looked out the windscreen to view the towering rock formations that scattered throughout the large desert area. Bruce and Betty sat in the back and were currently in a deep conversation about a bunch of technical science stuff that was just way to advanced for him to understand. But the teen didn't mind it. He was just glad they weren't using their intelligence to talk down to him, like some egotistical eggheads that Ben had met over the years. But in the case of these two eggheads, they were just catching up lost time.
The Teen then looked down at the Quinjets navigation monitor and saw that they were approaching the coordinates that Betty had given him when they boarded. He looked out the windscreen again to see the small town of Vista Verde below them. But it seemed that the location that Betty was taking them, was located at the base of a large rock plateau that was on the outskirts of the town. But the teen didn't question it as he set the jet down at the location and the three proceeded to disembark.
Once they walked down the ramp, Ben looked around at the seemingly empty area like a lost tourist, while the two scientists walked casually ahead of him, knowing exactly where to go. So like a lost dog, Ben followed to two Brainiac's as they approached the base of the rock plateau.
Suddenly, once the group got close to the rock face a deep mechanical grinding noise echoed from within the mountain and the rock wall started to slowly slide open. Revealing a secret entrance to a base of some kind. Ben took a moment to stop and admire the intricate design of the entrance, while the two scientists in front of him just continued on like it was an average Tuesday.
As the trio walked inside the hidden base, their footsteps echoed down the metal halls with no sign of life.
"So, was there supposed to be a welcome party or did one of you just have the remote for the garage door?" Ben asked in a quippy tone.
"Oh I'm sure he's still around. He probably just fell asleep on the job again." Betty responded vaguely.
Ben gave the female scientist a confused look. "Who's he?"
Just then a faint buzzing noise started to approach from the far end of the hall. It steadily grew louder and louder until a small spherical metal ball with a red camera lens floated up to them. The floating ball first turned to Betty and the lens briefly glowed, like it was scanning her.
"Hey Dr R." A static voice greeted the female scientist with enthusiasm. "Long time, no see. Glad you could make it out to my Fortress of Gammatude."
This was meet with a tired eye role from Betty as the floating sphere chuckled at its own joke. Even Ben smirked at the joke, but Bruce looked at the floating, talking ball with wide eyes upon hearing it speak. The sphere then took notice of Bruce and Ben.
"And I see you brought some guests with you. Let's see who we got here." The sphere then locked onto Bruce and its lens, glowed once more. But instead of identifying the scientist immediately like it did with Betty, the sphere remained focused on Banner like it was shocked to see him.
"N… No way. Doc is that you?" The sphere asked, in a flabbergasted tone.
Bruce smiled as he looked into the sphere's red eye. "Hello, Rick. Good to see you again."
"I… I just… I must be dreaming? Is that really you Doc?" The sphere, know identified as Rick, asked is disbelief.
The Gamma Scientist then chuckled in response. "No, Rick. You're not dreaming. I'm really here."
"It's a little dark down here, Rick." Betty then chimed in. "Could you please turn on the lights?"
"Huh? Oh oh, yeah of course. One light show coming up." Rick responded, snapping out of his stupor.
A few seconds later, lights started to flicker on throughout the hallway. Illuminating the path which revealed a large cargo elevator located at the end. A light blinked near the doors and they proceeded to open. The two scientists and the Alien Avenger then entered the cargo elevator and rode it to the top.
Once they reached the top and the doors opened. Ben and the Scientist where met with a sight that could only be summed up in two words. Man Cave.
The room was a large and circular, with a few computer terminals located on the side, near a giant monitor screen. There was also a kitchen located on the opposite end and in the centre of the room, was a large communal seating area with a large coffee table in front of it facing the monitor. Now under normal circumstances, this set up would be intended for scientists to use to get work done. But from what the trio could see, the place now looked like a frat house. Empty wrappers of junk food and soda cans completely buried the coffee table. The Kitchen was full of dirty dishes that were piled up so high, a mountain climber could've scaled it. The monitor screen was currently displaying the pause screen for a video game that was being played on one of the gaming consoles that was hooked up to it.
All in all, it looked like a pretty sweet set up. To Ben at least. The teen hero could totally picture himself hanging out in a place like this.
Just then the sound of a door sliding open caught the trios attention as they turned to see a teenage boy around the same age as Ben, rush into the room with his shirt half on as he seemed to have trouble getting his arm into the other sleeve of his shirt as he ran passed the group, apparently not noticing them, and proceeded to pull a sheet over his mountain of wrappers in a weak attempt to clean up his mess. Once he'd done that, he clapped his hands together proudly and then turned around and saw the trio of people staring at him and he realised that he was not alone.
"Oh…" Was all the Teen was able to say as he quickly ran his fingers through the brown rats nest that was his hair in an attempt to make himself look slightly presentable.
Betty simply sighed at the teens antics and shook her head. "Rick, you knew I was coming today. You could have at least tried to tidy up."
Rick rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment as he chuckled nervously. "Well Dr R, In all honesty I wasn't expecting you this early."
"Either that or you lost track of time levelling up your game." Ben spoke up, gesturing to the paused game on the monitor.
"Well, there's that too." Rick admitted, begrudgingly.
"Still a slacker, I see. Some things never change, Rick Jones." Bruce stated with a slight chuckle as he looked at his old friend.
It was then that Rick turned his gaze to Bruce and his eyes widened in disbelieve. Despite having just seen the Scientist with his drone a few minutes ago, the young adult was still so amazed to see the Gamma Scientist standing before him.
"Hey Doc. Wow I can't believe you're actually here." Rick said in surprise. "I mean when I heard that you were locked up in the Vault. I couldn't believe that the Big Guy actually got caught. But when Dr R told me about it…"
"He attempted to mount a rescue attempt." Betty finished, placing her hands on her hips and giving the young man a condescending tone.
"Hey it would've worked if I could just get a hand on one of those Hulkbuster uniforms. I could've snuck in…" Rick tried to defend before Betty cut him off again.
"And would've gotten yourself arrested or killed, in the process." She pointed out.
Rick opened his mouth to try and defend himself, but found the words lost to him and slumped his shoulders in defeat. It was in that moment that Bruce walked over to his young friend and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.
"I appreciate the thought, Rick. But there was really nothing you could have done. And I'm actually thankful that Betty has been keeping you out of trouble." Bruce told the teen.
It was then that Rick lifted his head up and smirked at the Scientist. "Oh she did more than that." The teen started to explain. "Dr R's been having me look after all her little science projects she's been working on."
"While also helping him pass his online classes, so he can finally earn his high-school diploma." Betty added, further embarrassing the Teen.
"Oh come on, Betty." Rick whined.
"Really?" Bruce responded in surprise. "I'm impressed, Rick. I've been trying to convince you for years to get you to finish school."
"Well what can I say, Doc. She's a lot more convincing than you." Rick stated glancing over at Betty, who looked rather proud of herself.
This caused Ben to chuckle slightly, bringing to everyone's attention that he was still in the room.
"Oh how rude of us." Banner said, apologetically. "Ben Tennyson, I'd like you to meet Rick Jones. A good friend of mine and the Hulks."
"Nice to meet you, Man." Ben greeted, holding out his hand.
"Yeah, Bro. Same here." Rick responded shaking Bens hand. "So how do you know the Doc?" He asked curiously.
"We work together." Ben responded with a smirk. "Well more accurately, I work with his big green friend."
"No way, you're one of the Avengers?" Rick asked surprised. "Wait, don't tell me. Are you that new shapeshifter guy that's been exploding across the internet?"
"Didn't know I was going viral that fast, but yeah that's me." Ben replied nonchalantly.
"Dude that is awesome." Rick said excitedly. He then pulled out a cell phone and turned on the camera. "Can I grab a few pics of you in your alien forms and will you do an interview with me for my web-show. The guys on the online forums are gonna freak about this."
The intensity of Ricks little fan moment caused Ben to briefly flashback to the days in his old universe where everyone knew his identity and his was basically a celebrity, constantly being harassed by fans and the general public. Thinking back on it, he wouldn't lie if he said it didn't enjoy the attention and let the fame get to head a little. But in reality he hated every moment of it. He really learned to value his privacy and has even taken steps to ensure that has identity is never exposed again.
"Sorry dude. But I'm not really the interviewing type. You can take pics of me in action, but I'm not doing a selfie." Ben explained to the excited teen calmly.
Ricks excited expression faded slightly, but his smile did not fade. "That's cool dude. Totally get it. The trolls online would just claim I faked the pics anyway."
"Well Rick, why don't you show Ben around the base, while Bruce and I catch up?" Betty asked as she and Bruce shared a look with each other.
"Ahh ok." Rick said in a sly tone, nodding knowingly. "I gotcha Dr R. Common Ben, ill show ya all the cool stuff in this place."
"Awesome." Ben replied as the two teens headed out of the room, leaving the two scientists alone.
As the two explored, Rick showed Ben all the impressive gear that had been put into this base when it was used to hunt the Hulk. From tracking systems, to containment units, to gamma based weaponry. Not that any of these things would actually be able to take down the Jade Giant, but it was still impressive the amount of effort that was put in to fighting him.
"So traveling around with the big guys for all that time. You must have some pretty crazy stories?" Ben inquired.
"Oh yeah. In fact, check this out." Rick pulled on a cord that was tied around his neck and he pulled out what appeared to be a large green scale that was tied to the cord that he had hidden under his shirt and held it up. "Take a wild guess where this puppy is from."
Ben then leaned over to get a closer look at the scale. It didn't really take the teen hero very long to figure out who this belonged to as he got a very up close and personal with these scales when he got punched in the face with them.
"The Abomination." Ben stated confidently.
"Yep." Rick replied happily, putting the scale back under has shirt. "My prized souvenir. Hulk broke it off during his first throw down with him. It was the coolest thing I had ever seen in my life."
"That's pretty awesome dude." Ben complimented.
"Thanks." Rick said. "But what about you? Being a shapeshifting alien hero, has got to have some equally awesome stories?"
Ben smirked in response. "Oh you have no idea."
"Well, don't leave a guy hanging. Give me something." Rick said, practically begging.
Ben chuckled as he and Rick continued to walk throughout the base. During which Ben did regale the Young Man with some of the stories from his past. All of which, Rick hung on every word like an eager child. After a while, the teens moved on from discussing Bens past and moved back to the tour.
Currently Rick was showing the Alien Avengers some of the various weapons that the base had in stock.
"This one right here." He said pointing to a large RPG like weapon hanging on the rack. "Was a real pain in the butt for the big guy."
"What does it do?" Ben asked curiously.
"Not sure. It just really hit him really hard in the butt." Rick replied.
The two boys shared a laugh as they continued to check out the other gear. When Ben noticed a device that was loaded onto a forklift. It was about six feet tall and shaped like a lab beaker. It was rusty in several places, but Ben could still make out the radioactive symbol on the side of it.
"So what's this thing, a bomb?" Ben asked, still looking over the device.
Rick looked over from behind a rack of weapons to where Ben was standing and a nervous expression immediately stretched across his face.
"Oh that." He said, as he walks over to the Alien Avenger. "No its not a bomb. Its actually an old Gamma reactor. I was supposed to get rid of this thing weeks ago. But…"
"You got set up, then something distracted you and you completely forgot all about it?" Ben summarised after piecing the details together.
"Yeah. Pretty much." Rick admitted, scratching the back of his head. "I mean. I totally meant to get it out of here. But after telling Dr R that I already did and more and more time passed. It just seemed like too big a deal if I moved it now."
"Why? Let's just take care of it now. We can take it out. Dispose of it and be back before Banner and Ross even know were gone." Ben stated in a confident tone.
"Its not that simple." Rick responded. I first gotta load it onto the truck, which is already hard since this stupid forklift only moves at a snail's pace. Not to mention transporting it cause…"
He is suddenly cut off when a bright flash of green light, blinds him.
"FOUR ARMS!"
Rick rubbed his eyes as his vision cleared and he looked up in shock to see a massive, red, four armed alien tower over him as it reached out and picked up the Gamma reactor like it was nothing.
"Where do you park the truck?" Four Arms asked the gawking teen.
Rick took a second before coming to his senses and immediately adopted a panicked expression. "Dude careful! That thing is unstable. Shake it around too much and it could blow."
Immediately the Alien Avengers cocky grin faded as he then held the reactor out in front of him like a fragile egg.
"Oops. That's the kind of information that would've been good to know before now." Four Arms said nervously.
The Teen then glared at the Alien Hero as he crossed his arms "Well how was I supposed to know that you'd just change into a ten foot tall alien and pick it up? By the way, totally awesome how you did that."
"Thanks. So what now?" Four Arms asked.
"Well take it down to the truck. Carefully. Then well load it and drive it out of here." Rick explained.
Four Arms nodded in agreement and Rick proceeded to lead the large alien out of the room and through the base till they managed to get to the bases garage. Four Arms then walked over to the truck that Rick guided him to and placed it on the back, gently. From there Rick used several straps to bind the reactor to the vehicle, tightening the straps so that the device was secure. Four Arms then transformed back into Ben and the two teens got into the truck and Rick started the engine while also opening the garage doors. But as the doors opened fully, Rick received a call from Betty on his phone. Rick and Ben looked at each other nervously as Rick answered the phone on speaker.
"Hey Dr R. What's up?" Rick said casually.
"Hello Rick. The base just alerted us to the garage doors opening. Is everything ok?" Betty asked from her end of the call.
Rick looked at Ben and mouthed what he should say, while Ben just shrugged and urged him to say something. "Well… Uhhh… I wanted to show Ben around. And thought we would take a trip into the town."
Rick glanced at Ben, who gave him a thumbs up in response.
"Well ok then. Just don't get into any trouble out there." Betty replied.
The two boys let out a mental sigh of relief.
"Yeah ok sure thing Doc. Be back later, bye." Rick then hung up the phone and they drove out of the base and made their way to the main road that would take them out of the area to the disposal sight.
After a few minutes of driving the pair had put a considerable amount of distance from the town and the songs that Rick was playing of his phone where starting to get repetitive, Ben finally felt the need to ask the question that really should have been asked after the third playing of 'Life is a Highway'.
"So where exactly are we going?"
"There's an old Military site, a few miles out. Where they store most of their old and worn out junk." Rick explained.
This caused Ben to look over to him and raise an eyebrow. "Please tell me we are not just going to dump a radioactive device in the middle of a hole in the desert?"
"Oh now don't get all Environmental preachy on me. That's not the plan at all." Rick assured the Teen Hero. "It's not a permanent solution. The reactor will simply be stored there until the energy from it, dies out. Then it'll be disposed of properly."
"But radio active material can take hundreds of years to wear off." Ben stated incredulously.
In response, Rick simply shrugged his shoulders. "I didn't say it was a perfect plan. But look, we don't have a way to safely dispose of this stuff at the moment and we cant have it taking up space at the base."
"So we are just leaving this thing in a hole in the desert." Ben repeated, though this time in the form of a statement.
"Ok yeah. Fine. That's exactly what where doing." Rick admitted exasperated. "But It's the only option that we've got. We can't just have it lying around the base and have it accidentally go off and put people in danger. Until someone can find a safe way to dispose of radioactive material. This is the best choice."
Despite Ben initial objection to the Teen logic. He couldn't deny that he did have a point. Modern day technology didn't really have a short term solution to radioactive problems. Areas like Chernobyl are still highly radioactive and scientist still haven't worked out a way to reduce the radiation levels effectively. Of course that can only be said by human standards. Ben knew of several alien species that have the tech or physical capability to handle radioactive materials. Heck, he could even turn into the aliens themselves. But due to the laws that the Plumbers had in effect, No alien tech or powers can be used to enhance an entire species progress. And no matter how much Ben wanted to, he couldn't just go around fixing all the Earths problems and having humanity become so reliant on him that they would give up on finding a solution themselves. As great a hero as he was, he couldn't be the only solution.
That being said. Ben was still a hero and that meant he couldn't help prevent a potential threat to the world. And he has several aliens that could take care of that reactor easily and safely. However, just before the Teen Hero could voice his alternative idea to his new friend, an Armadillo wandered out into the middle of the road and Rick only just noticed it and in a panic, slammed on his breaks and turned the wheel sharply. Immediately the truck swerved violently, jostling the Teens as Rick tried desperately to regain control of the vehicle, only for it to end up skidding off the road into a ditch, causing the airbags to deploy, stunning both of the boys.
Ben groaned as he pushed against the airbag that saved him from a nasty trip to the hospital, or possibly something worse. However his mind quickly returned to his new friend as he looked over to the driver seat, but saw that Rick wasn't there. The Teen Hero checked the windscreen and found it intact. Cracked, but otherwise intact, meaning that Rick had not gone through it and was most likely still safe.
"Rick?" Ben called out, as he exited the vehicle and looked around the area. But then his eyes fell upon a scene that made the colour drain from his face…
Rick Jones, crouching on the dirt, in front of an overloading Gamma reactor.
The device must have broken free when the truck skidded off the road and crashed. The device was already sensitive to something as small as a pot hole, so having it thrown from a crashing vehicle would definitely not be good for it.
"RICK!" Ben shouted as he rushed towards the teen.
"Stay back, Ben! I got this!" Rick called back as he continued to work on the device.
"You're insane, dude. Get out of there. I can take care of this." Ben screamed back.
However Rick refused to move from his position and continued to work on the rector. "No this is my mess. I need to fix this. Besides I'm almost…"
Before the Teen could finish, he twisted a nob on the reactor and a panel on the reactor and a large pulse of green gamma energy burst from the machine, blasting Rick back several meters before landing in a heap on the ground.
"RICK!" Ben screamed, running over to his friends side to check if he was ok. The energy released form the reactor had burned away at Ricks shirt, exposing his chest along with his Scale necklace. However before he could confirm his vitals the energy pulsing from the device caught the Alien Avengers attention. The device was shaking as energy started to pulse from it. From the way the energy was fluctuating, Ben theorised that it was only a matter of time before the reactor blows up and spreads radiation for miles, poisoning everything. Ben had already seen first hand what Gamma Radiation can do to living organisms under the gamma dome, he can only imagine what creatures would be created if this reactor blows. He needed to stop it here and now.
Quickly the Teen Avenger activated the Ultimatrix and started cycling through his aliens. "Best way to deal with radiation is to absorb it. NRG would be perfect for that. But really I'll take Chromastone or Feedback."
He then finds the Alien he wanted and slammed the dial down. In a flash of green light, Ben transformed. But what he transformed into, was not what he intended.
"UPGRADE!"
The transformed Teen then looked down at his hands and realised he was not the right alien.
"Stupid watch! This is not the time to have a sense of humour!" He yelled at the faceplate.
But complaining about the glitchy space watch would have to wait. The reactor was going critical and he needed to find a way to stop it. Acting on instinct, Upgrade leapt forward and his liquid metal body, flowed over the reactor and merged with it. Changing and restructuring it, in his attempt to contain the blast. Though, despite his mind wanting to contain the blast, Upgrades instincts caused his body to react differently. Instead the Bio-mechanical Alien turned the reactor into what looked like an advanced cannon that was pointed strait into the sky. It was in that split second that he was not attempting to contain the blast. He was going to release it into the atmosphere, where it would disperse safely at levels that would be harmless to organic beings.
The moment the Alien had finished his construct, he fired a powerful green beam of energy into the sky. The radioactive energy tore through the air, climbing higher and higher, looking like it would just fly into space without any complications.
Suddenly the beam stopped. Like it hit some invisible force and a sound similar to thunder, ruptured forth as the Gamma energy arced out across the sky until the very sky itself split open like a scar being slashed in the air itself.
After a few more seconds, the energy within the Gamma reactor was used up and the beam from Upgrades cannon stopped. The Alien Avenger then separates from the now drained reactor and looked up into the sky to fully witness the tear he had unintentionally made. It looked as though the scar had opened a portal to somewhere Upgrade did not recognise. But from what he could see it was a dark void.
"Oh that cant be good." Upgrade said.
Just then something emerged from the portal and fell to the earth like a comet, crashing several miles away from him.
"And that's probably worse." The Alien Avenger stated in a worried tone.
However his attention was caught by a groan and he turned to see Rick twitch on the ground as a pained look crossed his face. Upgrade immediately ran over to his friend, turning back into Ben as he did so.
"Rick? Rick? Talk to me buddy. Come on." Ben begged, shacking the teens shoulders, trying to get a response from him.
But as he did so, Ben noticed a faint glowing on Ricks chest. Looking down, Ben saw the scale on Ricks neckless glowing against Ricks skin. Then, to his shock, the scale was then absorbed into Ricks body, causing the Teen to grown in pain even more.
Ben's eyes widened in shock as he leaned in close to examine the teens condition. Suddenly Ricks eyes shot open and, before Ben could even react, he found himself flying through the air after being hit by a powerful blow, landing in a heap in the floor. Ben gasped as the wind was knocked out of him as he looked back to where Rick was and saw him rise to his feet, panting heavily.
He then looked up at Ben, and the Alien Avenger saw that his eyes were now glowing yellow. Rick then grunted in pain as his body began to change. The teens body began to grow as his skin started to sprout blue scales. The first and middle finger and ring and pinkie finger on each hand, fused together respectively. Turning his five digit hands into three. His shoes also burst off his feet when his feet grew too large for them as his toes fused to, two large clawed toes. His ears grew to be pointed and elf-like, while his teeth sharped into fangs.
The newly Mutated Rick stood tall as his clothes tore off his body revealing a 7 foot tall, blue-scaled mutant that roared to the sky as he glared at Ben with angry eyes.
Upon seeing his new friend mutate before his eyes. Ben immediately stood up and raised his hand in a placating gesture.
"Hey Rick. You still in there buddy?" Ben asked in a calm tone. "I know things are confusing right now, Rick. But you need to calm down. Take deep breaths. And then we can talk about how cool it is that you look like a Blue Abomination."
For a moment it seemed that the Alien Avengers words managed to get through to the Gamma Mutant as he stopped in his tracks as if to ponder the Teen Heroes words.
"A… A… A bomb…. A bomb…" Rick started to say in a low growling voice, seemingly trying to repeat what Ben had said. The Mutated Teen then looked back up to the Alien Shapeshifter and his eyes burned with rage as he clenched his fists.
"A-BOMB, SMASH!" The Gamma Monster roared as he launched himself at Ben, both armed raised above his head.
Immediately, Bens instincts took over as he dove to the side as Rick or, as his monstrous form was now calling himself, A-Bomb, slammed his fists into the ground. The shear power of the blow, caused a massive shockwave that kicked up dust and debris in all directions. A-Bomb then stood up within the large crater he had made with his attack and looked around the area for any sign of the Teen Hero. But there appeared to be no sign of him. The Blue Gamma Mutant turned around to see smoke rising from the area where the meteor from the portal crashed and proceeded to use his powerful legs to leap miles into the air in its direction.
After the Mutated Teen had left the area, the air shimmered as Ghostfreak decloaked and then turned back to Human. A nervous look was present on the teens face, one freak accident turned an innocent teenager into an angry gamma monster that could endanger the lives of many people. It was at this point Ben was starting to notice a pattern. First Carol got mutated by Kree DNA after he failed to protect her from the Sentry, then Andi got exposed to an alien symbiot after he failed to stop Taskmaster, now Rick got turned into a monster, all because he failed to react in time to dispose of the gamma reactor. It would seem everywhere he goes, he's just too late to prevent someone's life from getting messed up.
Before he could dig his hole any deeper, his Ultimatrix communicator started beeping as he looked down at the device and nervously activated.
"Ben, what's going on?" Came Bruce's voice, as he talked to Ben using the communicator Ben had given the Hulk, and to an extension himself. "Betty and I, just detected a massive Gamma spike in your vicinity. What's going on over there?"
A bead of sweat rolled down Bens forehead as he initially tried to come up with some clever excuse to avoid ruining Bruce's day. But quickly realised that, out of everyone in the entire world, no one knows more about Gamma radiation than Bruce Banner. If there was a way to help Rick, Bruce was the only man that could help.
Letting out a deep sigh, Ben confessed everything that had recently transpired. From the gamma reactor, to the meltdown, to Ricks exposure and portal in the sky and finally Ricks mutation and sudden rampage.
After completing his confession, Ben was half expecting to hear an angry roar of the Hulk as he smashed his way to give him a beating for letting his friend get mutated under his watch. But instead, all Ben heard was the calm voice of Bruce Banner.
"Don't blame yourself for what happened." Bruce said in a calm tone. "I'm sure you and Rick did everything you could. And while I wish you had just come to me in the first place. We can go over this after we find Rick. I'm already isolating his Gamma signature. Once I have the location, We can meet up with you to stop him."
This reaction took Ben a little by surprise. But then again, the man had spent many years learning how to control and contain his rage and therefore would have a very good handle on it. But there was something that the scientist said that did catch his ear.
"What do you mean by 'We'll meet up with you'?" He asked, though having a strong idea about what the scientist meant by it.
From the other end of the line, Ben could hear Bruce take a deep breath. "… Its time for a Code Green."
"Bruce no." Ben replied instantly. "I cannot ask you to give up your day cause of my mistake."
"Its ok, Ben. It was nice while it lasted. But there are people that need saving and the Hulk is an Avenger. He's needed more than I am." Bruce responded in a determined tone. But Ben could sense disappointment in the scientists words.
But it was hard to argue with the man. He had a point, it's a heroes duty to protect people, even if it means sacrificing their own needs. However, there was one thing that he could argue with.
"You're wrong about one thing, Bruce." Ben responded.
"What's that?" Bruce asked.
"You're an Avenger too." Ben stated confidently. "The Hulk may be the muscle. But you're the one that convinced him to help. You're the one that gave up so much to help people and save lives. You are a member of this team and right now, we need you're help. Not Hulks."
For a moment, the Gamma Scientist said nothing. At first Ben thought he'd lost the communication, until he finally heard his voice speak again.
"Thank you, Ben. You're right. I can work on a way to help Rick." Bruce replied.
Ben smiled in response. "Ok, but what about the portal?"
"Our instruments, say that the gamma energy that opened it in the first place is fading. It should close by itself, in a matter of time." The Gamma Scientist stated.
"But what about the thing that came out of it?" The Alien Avenger asked.
"Whatever it is. You'll have to put it back into the portal before it closes. Betty and I will monitor its progress and keep you informed." Bruce instructed.
"Ok. Now what am I gonna do about, Rick?" Ben asked, hastily as he knew the longer he waits, the larger the chance of Rick hurting someone gets.
"Alright, Ben. Listen closely." Bruce began.