what doesn't kill you makes you stronger

[greenisnteasy]

Who: The Hulk and you, IF YOU DARE
What: The rampaging Hulk is... you know, rampaging. Feel free to treat this as an open post kind of thing. Team up to battle him if you want, or come in to help rescue someone.
When: Day 50 (from here)
Where: Starting in the town, moving back out into the park (feel free to assume you're pursuing him out there from the town), then he flees into the woods.

There aren't a lot of conscious thoughts in the Hulk's mind right now. The only thing he's sure of is rage -- pure and unadulterated, it flows through him and feeds his strength, feeds his energy, but it's like poison, too. The regular Hulk, the calm one, would prefer rationality over this, but he doesn't have a choice. He doesn't get a choice like Banner, or like any of these other humans. He gets someone pushing Banner's buttons until the Hulk tumbles out mindless and angry and unable to turn it off.

So he'll rage, and he'll smash and destroy until he can bleed the anger out.

Comments

[greenisnteasy]

There are very few people who could reach this version of the Hulk; running really is the best idea, and the Hulk agrees. Once he sees that Jesse's fleeing -- really and truly running away from him -- he lets him go, him and his sparkler hands. The Hulk doesn't want to deal with a puny human that could hurt him with strange magic. He chases him a little ways and then stops, watching to make sure he's going; then he snorts and turns and runs back to the fountain.

That'd been a fun thing to smash.

[rigging]

When Jesse stops running, he's on the beach.

He's scared out of his mind. Not hurt, thankfully, just bruised, scraped up, maybe a little burnt from the excess sparks. He sinks down onto the beach and looks over his shoulder. No Hulk. No nothing. You can breathe now, Jesse.

But he doesn't - between his shitty lungs and the terror still gripping at him, he can't breathe right. So he calls Galen. As if he could do anything else. "Come get me," He gasps a little pathetically, fingers of his free hand digging into the sand. "Please."

[gleans]

He's heard the smashing, and has been worried about Jesse -- until now. Galen picks up and is already putting on his coat when he does.

"Where are you, are you okay?"

[rigging]

"Fine, fine," Jesse says, taking deep breaths. Shhh, shh. It'll be okay. Galen's coming. "I just - I'm - come get me, I'm - the beach."

[gleans]

"Okay. I'm coming, hang on."

The feed cuts out, and thankfully their house is near the beach; Galen is there in moments, scanning down the length of sand for Jesse -- there he is. He heads in his direction, trying not to stumble on the sand.

"Jess -- Jess, hey. What the hell happened?"

[rigging]

He's trying not to spark too much, just concentrating, eyes closed. When he hears Galen, he looks up, and he looks like he feels ill. Breathing hard, he grips at his jeans and looks down at the sand again.

"Hulk." He says quietly, and then he scrubs at his face with both hands. "It's the Hulk, he -- I dunno, Bru -- the Hulk's smashing things and he ran straight at me. Fuck."

[gleans]

"Shit." That explains the smashing. Galen looks back, but he doesn't see anything, or anyone. He looks back to Jesse, and kneels beside him, wobbles a little in the sand.

"It's not Bruce," he says gently, just to confirm Jesse knows that. After his talk with Bruce about the frightening things they can barely control, he feels empathetic. Something set Bruce off, set the Hulk free. He just wishes he'd asked if there was a way to stop it.

"Are you okay, though? Like, he didn't hurt you?"

[rigging]

"I know it ain't," Jesse mumbles, and he does. But it still gets him on a level he hates, and he reaches to hold onto Galen's shirt, looking down at the sand. He's slowly getting his breathing under control. "He didn't, no, just - scratches."

He has no idea what it is, but something about this bothers him. Can't put his finger on it. But it's enough to make him not be able to stop shaking, so he curls into Galen, with a shivery little sigh.

"He stopped himself, I think. He was gonna, but." Maybe Bruce stopped him. Jesse wishes he could have another chance.

[gleans]

"You're okay," Galen breathes, after bracing for a shock. He wraps his arms around Jesse, lets him shiver and calm down. "He stopped himself, so maybe it'll be over soon, right?"

[rigging]

"Yeah," Jesse stutters a little, hiding his face. Ugh, why the fuck is this affecting him so badly? He's trying so hard not to spark, and he's doing an okay job, but he can't stop himself from practically vibrating with the effort. "He coulda ki -- he -- can we go back? I wanna go back to the house." He laughs a little, tinged a little with franticness. "I ain't cut out for this life or death shit, jesus."

[gleans]

"Yeah. Let's go." Galen pulls back enough to kiss Jesse's forehead, then reaches for his hand. If he knew what kind of friendship Jesse and Bruce have, he might be able to figure out what's bothering him -- but as it is, Galen thinks it might be the shock of a friend turning on him again.

Carefully, he stands, holding onto Jesse's hand. "You wanna sleep for a bit when we get home?"

[rigging]

It's buried so far down that Jesse probably won't be able to figure it out. He holds Galen's hand tightly and takes a breath - it's not really deep, because he still can't draw in anything but that sort of panic-stricken air, but it's a start.

"I think so, yeah," Jesse mutters, rubbing at his face with his free hand. "There ain't anything else I can do."

[gleans]

Galen shrugs and smiles weakly, leaning over to plant a kiss on the side of Jesse's head. "Cool, I could use a nap." Which is a lie, but he doesn't really want to leave Jesse alone right now.

Together, they walk through the sand and back up to solid ground.