if you could only see the beast you've made of me

[greenisnteasy]

Who: Crazy Bruce Banner, YOU!, and whoever he's hallucinating.
What: Bruce stumbling around town, hiding from his hallucinations, with occasional moments of lucidity.
Where: Around town.
When: Various points on Day 37. I'll work out timeline stuff, you just tag in and let the fun/terribleness roll.
Warnings: Child abuse and father issues for father-related hallucinations. Violence and attacking people, including a few women. See here for more information.

Bruce twists his head around so fast to check what he thinks he sees in the corner of his eye, that he trips and stumbles forward, landing on his hands and knees. There's no one there -- not Blonsky, and not his father, either -- but he doesn't feel any less attacked. His head hurts, pounding at the temples, from the noise in his own mind. His voice, the Hulk's voice, the pressure of the drugs; it all swirls around until Bruce isn't sure of anything he's seeing.

He's not sure of himself, either, but he hasn't been sure of himself for a long time. His eyes, at least, he's had an okay relationship with, up until now.

In some part of his mind, he knows he's seeing things, but the fear and the panic take over, and the urge to run, to hide becomes too much to fight. It's coming over him again even now, and he pushes himself to his feet to stumble forward again, slowly gaining his balance until he's half walking, half running.

Comments

[foundacause]

What was this? Demon-bashing day? Seriously. Meg had been on her best behaviour since she'd arrived at Cape Kore, she'd only terrified a few locals, and she'd been saving them from getting their asses mauled by Hell's very own fighter dogs. So what was with all the hostility flung at her?

She arched a brow. The guy looked like he might be three crayons short of a box. Then again, half the residents of their own little Bog Brother seemed to be taking a ride on the crazy train.

"World Peace and puppies for all," she remarked, one day she would learn not to antagonise people - especially the mentally unhinged ones. Today was not that day. "What do you want?"

[greenisnteasy]

Whoever it is, they're playing with him, taunting him, and while normally he'd tell himself to run, now there's too much fear and too much unrest in his mind. He can't control himself like this, can't force himself to deal with his surroundings, which means the self-preservation and repressed desire to protect himself is crawling out and taking over. His shoulders hunch, his breathing becoming more labored; he isn't Hulking out, but the part of Bruce's mind that allowed for the creation of the Hulk is taking control.

And when that defensiveness kicks in, coupled with the teasing in this person's voice, coupled with the antagonization -- Bruce's mind finally settles on an image. It's the one he's been seeing that sparks the most fear in him, and the one he's been least willing to name. His father's here, and this place could do that, couldn't they? Send him his father to finish what he'd always wanted to do.

"To teach you something," he snarls, glaring up at her.

[foundacause]

Well that was... unexpected. To be fair though, she should've expected it. Her luck was taking her nosedive, so why shouldn't she be threatened by the crazy guy?

Her stomach does a backflip as nervousness creeps through her. What if the crazy guy wasn't a random crazy? What if Crowley had taken a new meatsuit? No, that was impossible... She would be able to tell, wouldn't she? She'd be able to see his true form, right? Then again, Cas said his angel mojo was on the fritz, maybe her powers were skewered too?

Great.

"Sorry, don't fancy going to class today, I'm ditching."

[greenisnteasy]

"You're gonna learn," he says lowly, still sounding feral, and he leans over, preparing to run. "You're never going to hurt me again."

He charges for her then, without much rhyme or reason; he's riding on instinct and fear, which doesn't bring him a lot of coordination, and he's slipping into a groove of a memory he's long repressed. Another time he pushed at his father, another time Bruce was afraid and cornered. His main goal is to try to tackle her, his father, whoever and whatever she represents, so he runs at her with his arms extended.

[foundacause]

She should've been able to dodge. She should've been able to get out the way in time. She was demon for Christ's sake. Super stamina, super senses and all that jazz. Yet she didn't, and the hard thunk of spine hitting ground was proof of that. It knocked the wind out of her - or at least out of her meatsuit.

"Bit handsy for a first date there. I'm all for playing rough. But I didn't even get to tell you my safe word yet..." She huffed from her less than comfortable spot on the ground.

[greenisnteasy]

Bruce growls again, but even as he lunges for her again, his mind's starting to short out. Somewhere between the fear and the decision to push her and then watching her fall, he unlocks something that his mind's been keeping under wraps. Nothing concrete, not yet, but the smell of freshly cut grass and rotting flowers, and the sound of flesh and bone cracking against solid stone.

He's nearly blind to the actual world now, slipping into the memory that he still doesn't understand. There are only pieces of it as his mind tries to hold back the rest. He falls on her, his eyes wild and unfocused as he grabs her by her shoulders and shakes her, slamming her back against the ground again, hard.

[foundacause]

Once again the wind is knocked out of her, and she's pretty sure she sees stars. It isn't the first time she's been manhandled, and she doubts it'll be the last; but really? Really? Can't people learn to be a little bit more delicate with the meatsuit? Meatsuits and fleshy and squishy and bruise easily, and she's kind of fond of this one. She really doesn't want to have to find a new one.

"Kinky. I like. But how about you buy me dinner first..." Or explain why the hell he feels entitled to use her as a rag doll. She manages to lift her arm enough to curl her fingers, hoping to heck that Biokinesis works on the damn guy. She squeezes the air between fingers and palm in a hope to squeeze his trachea long enough to buy her some time.

[greenisnteasy]

Oh, it works, and it makes the world he's imagining crack even more as he starts to choke; he reaches up to his throat, frantically pulling at the hand he assumes must be there, his father's hand, his father coming to kill him finally. It wouldn't be the first time he's tried to choke Bruce, though Bruce was younger then and his father lost the nerve, got distracted by his mother trying to intervene.

He's still fighting an invisible fist, unaware that there's nothing there.

[foundacause]

Meg manages to scramble back to her feet. She has to admit it's not the first time she's been attacked, but normally there is at least some kind of logical explanation for it and more often than not she actually deserves it.

She lowers her hand, uncurling her fingers to stop the attack. In hindsight, she probably should've moved further away before doing so. But hey, you know what they say about hindsight...

[greenisnteasy]

Bruce is still on the ground, and he chokes and sputters as his throat is released; he still doesn't know what's going on in any real way, but his mind interprets this as his chance, his chance to get his father away from him and to keep him from ever hurting him again. Growling, he looks up at her/his father, and then kicks out, trying to knock her to the ground.

[foundacause]

Yep. She really should've run while she had the chance. Obviously Mr Crazy McCrazypants isn't going to see sense any time soon. And apparently, the back of Meg's head wants to become well acquainted with the ground again.

"Seriously? What is your problem?" She was around 85% certain he wasn't a demon... well alright, 77%, there was still room for doubt. And if the guy wasn't working for Crowley then she had no logical reason for why he was attacking her - aside from the craziness, or the fact she's a demon.

"Alright... officially over this now..." She thrusts her hand forward, attempting to use some of that demon magic to fling him away from her.

[greenisnteasy]

The demon magic works and sends him flying, and he lands hard on the ground on his side. It ought to dislodge his thoughts, but it makes him tumble further into them instead. Being hit hard enough to fly across the room isn't new either, and he curls up first with the fear, huddling in on himself. It's lucky for them both that the drugs seem to be doing something to suppress his transformation or else they'd both be in trouble -- Meg for obvious reasons, and the Hulk because he's far more susceptible to the specter of Bruce's father than Bruce is.

"Please," he murmurs, his body curling up. "Please don't do this anymore. I'm not a monster. I'm not. You are."

[foundacause]

"I must admit, I have been called a monster on many occasions..." Meg stands, dusting herself off. She rolls her head to crick her neck into place. "And maybe they're right. I've been a bad girl..."

She still isn't entirely sure what his deal is. Although, she's beginning to suspect he's just nuts. She's had a lot of experience with the nutty kind. "Wanna tell me why you're attacking people if you're not a monster?"

[greenisnteasy]

"Defending myself." She's no longer his father in his mind, though he still doesn't know who she is. In the underpinnings of his subconscious, she's not his father anymore because he effectively just re-killed his father, so she can't be him anymore. He's still filled with the after effects of his fear, though they're starting to dissipate, slowly.

"He's hurt me too much. I'm not going to let him do it again."

[foundacause]

"Okay. First off you complete and utter nutjob. I'm definitely not a 'he' although I could go grab a male meatsuit if you prefer. And since there's no one else here, I assume I'm the one you're referring to. In which case I reiterate... not a guy!"

She gives him a nudge with her foot. "Seriously... get up."

[greenisnteasy]

He jumps when she nudges him, but then he blinks up at her and actually sees her. As he becomes more aware of himself, the hallucinations fade and he's not quite sure what just happened or why, at least not for the first few moments. He remembers attacking what he thought was his father, but that's ridiculous; his father's dead, and definitely not this woman, whoever she is.

He does push himself up, and slowly the fear that'd crippled him dissipates.

"I don't... I thought I was attacking..." He glances up at her, and then finishes, "someone else." Slowly, he pushes himself up to his feet.

[foundacause]

"Well that's an incredibly reassuring thought." He voice oozes with sarcasm. "So, Rambo, tackle many people to the ground in a case of mistaken identity? I'm fine, by the way, since you asked. Not so sure on the meatsuit though."

She's still pretty pissed at being randomly jumped but the guy is obviously three crayons short of a pencil case. Ugh. There would've been a time when she would've gutted him on principle. She must be going soft in her old age...