Chapter 8
Chapter Seven
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Eevee puffed out her chest in pride, showing off her new collar. The shiny red materiel shone under the light of the mansion and the tag clinked lightly every time she moved, much like a bell.
"Awe, Eevee's now an Avenger!" Wasp gushed and scratched Eevee's back. Eevee purred and arched into the hand. Pepper couldn't help the grin that spread across her face and absently reached out to pet the mammal. She paused, catching herself before she could and stood, clearing her throat.
She slid one last card from her pocket and walked towards Hulk.
"I can show you how it works/ Oh!" Pepper jerked back as Hulk snatched the card from her hand, straightening and towering over the woman. Everyone in the room paused, Thor and Tony stiffening as Hank and Wasp looked on in uncertainty.
Eevee winced, ducking her head down with a whine.
Why did Ms. Pepper have to do that? She knew that Hulk could get... frustrated when people thought him stupid, which he wasn't. It was true that he wasn't as smart as Bruce, in her own opinion; no one was smart as Bruce but Hulk wasn't stupid, after all, Hulk and Bruce shared the same brain.
"You think I can't figure it out?" He growled. Pepper took a step away from him, holding her arms up.
"I'm sure you can." She tried to placate him. Thor huffed out a breath and stalked towards Hulk, one hand clenching before he relaxed it.
"It would be wise to treat the lady with respect." Thor said as he came to a stop mere feet from Hulk. Tony placed a hand on Pepper's shoulder and directed her back from the pair.
Eevee stood, debating on going to Hulk when he leaned forward, getting face to face with the god.
"Which lady do you mean Blondie?" Hulk taunted. Tony walked towards them and cleared his throat. The pair backed away from each other and looked at him. The entire fireplace behind them lifted out and then up, revealing a hidden door that opened when Tony approached it.
"Nifty!" Wasp commented, sitting up and shrinking in size. Eevee felt Wasp plop down on her back before she jumped off the couch and followed after the heroes. Large hands enclosed around her middle, narrowly missing Wasp as the woman flew from her back with a small yelp of surprise. Eevee was lifted off the ground as the door closed behind her and brought up to Hulk's chest.
"Eevee?" She meowed up at him. He simply grunted. Eevee leaned up against Hulk's abnormally warmer then normal chest and purred. She had been around him long enough to tell when he needed her, he was getting frustrated and nervous; not that he would ever admit to it.
It's okay Hulk, I'm here.
He had gotten so used to her presence in his life that her simply purring against him calmed him down. Fingers gently caressed Eevee's back and head as the elevator started downwards.
"And walla, the sub levels." Tony said. Eevee looked over Hulk's arm in open wide wonder. Through the glass, she could see levels of rocks and pipes that led further down. It took another minute before the elevator opened up into the first part of the sub levels. A large opened room filled with various machines of all types.
"The mansion has a beyond state of the arc science lab as well with space for Hank's modular labs and space for my armory." He continued as he led the team further in. Over Hulk's shoulder, Eevee saw Hank pause to admire the equipment before following the group with a large satisfied smile on his face.
"Wow! That's a big pool." Wasp's comment brought Eevee's attention back to the group. She wiggled out of Hulk's arm and he let her go without hesitation. Eevee squirmed between the legs of the team before peering down. The body of water started to swirl before the floor opened up.
"Actually the pools on the roof." Eevee backed away several feet as a platform rose from the water with a jet stationed on top. "This, is a fully functional hanger with two prototype high speed aerial shuttles." One the shuttles rose by itself and hover before them.
"The Quinjets." Tony announced proudly. The jet opened hatches to reveal weapons as a shield enveloped the jet. "Weapons, shields and a speed of mach 8... for those of us who can't fly." Hank, Hulk and Eevee all glared up at Tony. The billionaire/Superhero grinned before shrugging.
"But it can go into space too." He paused and added quickly when the glares didn't change, "And! Then there's the training room."
"You mean like a gym?" Wasp asked. Tony glanced over his shoulder at her, a grin on his face.
"Ah, kind of."
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"Eevee!" Eevee yelped and dove to the side as a small metal ball shot passed her. She crouched down and jumped again to avoid two more passes. She landed on the balls of her paws and narrowed her eyes on her new training equipment.
Four fist size metal bars were programmed to put her through her paces. They were normally controlled by JARVIS but Tony had designed the system to be controlled manually as well.
"You can do it Eevee!" Wasp cheered from the sidelines. Sweat still coated her forehead from her own workout just minutes before.
Eevee puffed out her chest with air before blowing out dozens of tiny golden energy stars. Two of the balls exploded upon contact with the stars but the last two zoomed away before coming back.
Eevee flipped back and crouched, feeling the balls skim her back fur. She turned and fired another shot of energy stars at them.
They ducked and zipped to the side before separating. Eevee was so intent on them that she didn't notice the floor move out under her until it did.
She yelped as she plummeted down into the hole. Eevee reached out to try to grab the ledge but her claws didn't get any grip on the smooth wall. Her body hit the smooth wall and was funneled into a tunnel. She yelped again as she was spat out of the tunnel, sliding across a hallway before thumping into the opposite wall. The tunnel closed itself after a moment.
What was that? Eevee put her head down with a groan as she waited for the room to stop spinning.
"Are you alright Miss Eevee?" JARVIS' voice echoed the hallway. Eevee opened her eyes and when she didn't see the house spinning, lifted her head.
"Eevee. Ev. Vee!" Eevee grumbled. All was silent for a moment, aside from Eevee's annoyed growl before JARVIS spoke.
"I don't think sir would appreciate an injury to his buttocks." JARVIS replied. Eevee growled again before standing, pausing a moment as she wobbled. She shook her head and slowly made her way down the hallway, a small continuances growl leaving her throat.
"I shall tell Sir that he should be excepting you." JARVIS announced after a few moments.
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Eevee trotted over to the group of heroes as they waited for Pepper to open the doors. Wasp waited for the mammal to catch up before scooping her up and into her arms, patting her head with sympathy.
"It's alright Eevee." Wasp cooed. "You'll do better next time." Eevee huffed and glared over at the billionaire. Tony winked in her direction before focusing back on the tour.
"And this is the assembly hall!" An overhead light flickered on and flooded a large circular table in light. Eevee's eyes went wide and she allowed Wasp to carry her inside. The two of them walked the floor, looking wide eyed up at the ever going ceiling as they heard Hank start on Tony, mocking him until he asked Tony why they were here.
"JARIVS? Bring up the most wanted list." Tony ordered. With that, Wasp walked them over to the wide circular table and stopped beside Hank. The table lit up and showed the faces of the 75 most wanted criminals that escaped SHIELD's custody. Thor cocked his head, eyes lit up in wonder and Eevee copied him.
Living with Bruce and Hulk for most of her life, Eevee wasn't used to this much high tech machinery. It was fascinating..
"74 Supervillains escaped the day of the breakout." Tony explained, Eevee hissed as Graviton's face grew slightly bigger then the rest and glowed. "Graviton is being held by SHIELD. We got the Mandril." Mandrill's face grew and glowed.
"But we got more work to do." Eevee looked up when Wasp's grip tightened around her and couldn't help but share in her growing excitement. Wasp had gushed to her for the last week that she couldn't wait to use her powers for something good, even against Hank's growing dislike in the idea.
Eevee's ears perked up when the low rumbling murmur of Hulk's voice reached her. She wiggled around and draped the top half of her body over Wasp's shoulder to peek at Hulk who was away from the group, arms crossed with a frown on his face.
"Eevee?" Eevee chirped, ears pushed forwards to pick out Hulk's voice. Wasp hummed and turned her body to see what Eevee was staring at.
Janet grinned and gave Hulk a wink as she raised her free hand to wave her fingers at him. His frowned deepened. Eevee swished her tail in amusement as Wasp started to make faces at Hulk, trying to get him to smile. Good luck with that.
It had taken her months to get a smile out of him. Wasp rolled her eyes and turned her body and her attention back to the table and the talking Avengers when Hank raised his voice.
"If we do recapture them all, where do we put them?" Hank asked. Eevee wiggled against until Wasp dropped her arms and let Eevee stand on the table.
"The Vault as been destroyed, as well at the Big house and we don't even have word from what happened at the Cube." Hank growled out.
"I've been working on something with a friend now." Tony answered. "Reed Richards has purposed creating a prison that's actually outside of this dimension, in a place called the Negative Zone."
Eevee tuned out the scientific part of the conversation and focused on the bright glowing lights that the table projected. She raised her paw to bate at the light, pleased with herself when it flickered before firming. Bruce never let her have this much fun with machines. To dangerous he said. Blah.
"To much talking." Hulk growled as he smashed his fist into his hand. "We should just go get these guys." Hank shook his head.
"We don't even know what caused the break out in the first place." He argued back. Wasp yawned, eyes flickering to Eevee's swishing tail and she grinned.
"Gotcha." Wasp reached out and grabbed her tail. Eevee squeaked, trying to whip around but misplaced her footing, her back paws slipping on the polished table. Eevee chirped in surprise as she fell harmlessly a foot or so, Wasp letting go of her tail the last second. Wasp stifled her chuckles as Eevee picked herself up with a few grumbles before shaking her fur to settle it but it only caused it to puff out even more.
Eevee glanced up at her, growling as she turned and flounced over to Hulk. Sitting down at his feet and licking her fur down.
"Maybe we should call it a day." Wasp suggested, already bored with her playmate's sulking. "We can concentrate on beating up the bad guys tomorrow." Hulk grunted.
"At least someone knows what their doing." He taunted, walking towards the elevator. Eevee stood and trotted off after her master, ears flickering in concern.
Somethings getting under his skin and it isn't them. Eevee could see Hulk was getting more and more agitated, growling and muttering to himself and walking more heavily.
"I have had enough of you creature!" Thor spat. Eevee winced and stepped back as Thor's boot almost hit her as he walked towards Hulk. Whatever was about to happen, wouldn't help the Hulk.
"Your insult ends here!" Thor yelled. Hulk turned, hands clenched and a louder growl leaving his chest.
"You wanna go Goldilocks! Let's go!" Hulk shouted. Eevee put her ears down with a whimper. This wasn't good.
"Whoa! Whoa!" Tony was suddenly there, placing either hand on Thor's and Hulk's arm, pushing them back.
"How about instead of going, lets learn how to get along? Since you two are staying full time at the mansion, how about not leveling the place on day one?" Hulk grunted, turning and stomping into the elevator.
"Pet!" He yelled. Eevee winced and jumped forwards just as the elevator closed behind her tail.
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"And this is your room, for now anyways." Tony said, pushing in the code for the room. The double doors opened to reveal and modest size room with a king sized bed and a dresser.
"Your real room is still getting a few... accessories installed." Tony admitted. "Like a bigger bed for example. I had JARVIS order your pet a dog bed, it right there." He pointed at the end of the bed where a beige dog bed was placed. Hulk ignored him, plopping back first on the bed.
Tony winced when the bed protested, groaning and threatening to collapse but after a few seconds of groaning, the bed held.
"Ah.. alright then. Dinner is whenever you want, the kitchen is restocked every two days and.. yeah. Goodnight. Tony walked out and closed the door behind him. Hulk sighed and folded his hands behind his head. Eevee chirped and ignored the dog bed, jumping up and up onto Hulk's stomach.
Eevee circled a few times before flopping down to lay on his stomach, head on her paws and tail tucked against her body.
Eevee breathed in deeply, opening her eyes when Hulk's skin let off a spicy, clogging scent. She sniffed against but settled when Hulk laid a hand on her back, fingers petting her fur.
They laid in silence for a few minutes, Eevee comforted by Hulk's rising and dropping stomach as he breathed. Eevee yelped as Hulk sat up suddenly, tumbling off his lap and into the dog bed.
She sat up, shaking her body to settle her fur.
"Eevee?" Eevee asked Hulk. He glared at the wall mirror across the room before growling and clenching his hands. He stood with a grunt and walked towards the door, throwing the door open and it banged against the wall. She cocked her head with a confused whimper before looking at the mirror. Eevee narrowed her eyes when a flash of yellow caught her gaze.
What was that? Eevee stalked towards the mirror, sniffing the air and looking into the reflection. Another flash of yellow had her bolting back with a yelp. Eevee's mouth dropped and her eyes widened when a long blonde haired woman dressed in green stepped out from the mirror, shimmering in a yellow mist.
"Get out of my way, little pest." She spat down at Eevee. Eevee chirped, jumping to the side to avoid a kick. She scurried under the bed to avoid another kick. The woman huffed before walking out of the room, slamming the door behind her.
Eevee was instantly out from under the bed, charging the door but skidding to a stop when she it was closed. Eevee bristled.
"Eevee! Ev Ev!" Eevee growled. All was silent before.
"At once Miss Eevee." With that, JARVIS tried to unbolt the door but it didn't budge.
"I'm sorry Miss Eevee but the door seemed to be broken." JARVIS said after a minute. "I shall inform Mr. Stark at once." Eevee growled, pacing the length of the door. This wasn't good. Something was wrong with Hulk and a woman just stepped out from a mirror. A mirror.
"I can't get through to Mr. Stark." JARVIS commented after another minute. "I shall alert Mr. Odinson." Eevee hissed and kept pacing. Another five minutes passed before JARVIS alerted her again.
"Mr. Hulk just left." JARVIS said. "And he seems rather... upset. Mr. Odinson has gone after him." Eevee put her ears down and hissed angrily. She had enough of this. Eevee jumped back several meters and breathed in deeply, her chest puffing up before she let go. Dozens of golden stars burst from her mouth, demolishing the door and taking down the hallway opposite the room.
Eevee ran forwards, jumping over the debris and down the hallway, following Hulk's scent and the sickly sweet scent of the woman. It led her down the hallway and the stairs and towards the front door. It was soon mixed in with Thor's musky scent.
"Eevee!" Eevee chirped. A beep sounded seconds after her call and the double front doors opened. Eevee meowed her thanks to JARVIS before she hit the ground outside. She paused at the smashed open front gates, sniffing the air before peeling towards the right.
It wasn't long until she heard screaming followed by Hulk's roar. He sounded angry, really angry. Eevee missed a step when her collar lite up, her tag flashing blue and Tony's voice called through.
"Avengers assemble." Eevee's ears flickered. The other avengers were coming to help. Eevee traced Hulk's and Thor scent, plus the destruction to Central Park.
"Eevee?" Eevee skidded to a stop when she heard Wasp call her name. Wasp fluttered over head, eyes wide as they took in the destruction around them. Downed trees and shattered statues. It wasn't good.
"What happened!?" She yelled.
"Eevee! Ev!" Eevee whimpered, putting her ears down. Their heads snapped up when yards of tree crashed down before them. Wasp shouted and Eevee felt a weight tumble down her back before Wasp grabbed her tail. Eevee turned away to shield her eyes as a cloud of dirt and debris swept passed them. The dirt cloud settled and they heard Thor and Hulk right in the middle of the crater.
"We got to stop them!" Wasp shouted over the snarls and cracking trees. Eevee nodded and waited for Wasp to grab a hold of her fur before running over to the pair, being careful not to step on any sharp pieces of shattered earth. Eevee crested the crater and they both stared down at the two large males, eying each other with such hate in Hulk's eyes as Hulk stood over Thor, his fist raised over his head.
Wasp flew off Eevee's head and put herself between Thor and Hulk, arms held out in front of her. Eevee hesitated at the top of the crater before slowly making her way down, skidding down the dirt sides.
"Why are you doing this?" Wasp asked, "You have to calm down. We aren't trying to attack you." When Eevee touched the bottom of the crater, Thor pushed himself up with a yell, his hammer striking Hulk's chest and sending him flying back.
Hulk landed on his back with a yell, skidding back into a few trees and cracking them down the middle.
"Well.. maybe Thor is." Wasp groaned. Hulk stood with another growl, clenching his hands into fists before stomping his way back over to them. Eevee put her ears down with a growl and made her way to put herself in front of Thor and Wasp.
Hulk wouldn't her hurt, Eevee knew this. Hulk never tried to hurt her before so why start now?
Hulk didn't even pause. Something was wrong with him. Hulk was more angry, more temperamental the usual. Eevee narrowed her eyes when she saw his eyes flash yellow, just for a few brief seconds. The same yellow of the mist that the woman from the mirror had swirling around her.
The sound of repulsors tempted Eevee to look away from Hulk as he trampled towards her but she couldn't. For the first time since ever, she was afraid of him. Afraid of her master.
Iron Man flew to hover before Hulk, placing both hands on his chest and powering up his feet repulsors but his machine was not up to stopping a rampaging Hulk.
"Hulk! Hulk!" Iron Man's voice wasn't getting through to him. "Stop it! You have to listen! Hulk wait! Something is wrong with you!" Hulk roared and wrapping his hand around Iron Man's head before smashing him into the ground. Eevee took a step forwards with a whine when Iron Man didn't get up immediately.
Should she do something? Can she do anything?
"Hulk don't!" Wasp shouted, flying towards Hulk with her hands glowing. Dozens of tiny bolts hit Hulk's chest and neck. He roared and tried to block her bolts with his arm, forcing to take several steps back away from Iron Man. Iron Man stood without help as Thor approached him, hammer clenched tightly in his hand.
"A weird aura is surrounding the Hulk." Iron Man scanned Hulk's body again, trying to find the source of the aura. He swept the area to see what could be behind Hulk's anger, He paused on Thor, seeing the same aura emitting from Thor's hammer.
"Thor! Its the same aura that your hammer gives off!"
"It is dark magic." Thor murmured. "The Hulk has been enchanted." Eevee took a few uncertain steps away from Hulk when he made to swat Wasp out of the air with an opened hand, an enraged growl echoing from is chest. She closed her eyes, willing away her guilt as she puffed her chest up and opened her muzzle. Much smaller and duller stars rushed out of her mouth, avoiding Wasp and hitting Hulk's raised fist and arm, making him move away from Wasp.
Hulk roared, covering his face with his arms before charging them. Eevee's eyes widened even as she continued her assault. A giant first wrapped around Hulk, stopping his charge. Eevee closed her mouth moments after, stopping her half heartied attack. Ant Man, or Giant man grinned down at the team, keeping Hulk contained in his hand.
"I'm guessing this isn't a team trust building exercise." His eyes widened moments before he was swung over them with a shout and landed hard on his back.
"Giant-Man!" Wasp gasped, her hand covering her mouth. He sat up with a groan, his hand touching his pounding head as he looked around for Hulk.
Hulk landed on his head with a roar, raising his fists to smash them down into Giant-Man's head.
"Hulk!" Thor shouted, leaping into the air. The god raised Mjolnir and tried to bring it down on Hulk's head but Hulk leaned back and the hammer harmlessly soared passed him. Hulk grabbed the end of Thor's cape and twirled him around, flinging the god to the right and into the trees.
"This is useless." Iron Man murmured moments before soaring into the air and circling Giant Man. Eevee felt useless as she watched Iron Man hit Hulk's outstretched arm and flip a few times in the air before crashing out of sight.
"Eevee!" Wasp shouted, buzzing over Eevee's head. "We got to do something!" Wasp screamed when Giant Man was sent onto his back by the force of Hulk's fist. Giant-Man didn't move.
"Get away from him!" Wasp shouted, flying towards Hulk with glowing fists. She sent bolt after bolt at Hulk's chest as she dodged Hulk's attempt to crush her.
Not Wasp Eevee thought, her eyes widening. She scrambled up Giant-Man's side, her claws digging into the fabric. With one last push, she was up on Giant-Man's stomach.
Hulk roared and opened his hands, clapping them around Wasp.
"Eevee!" Eevee screeched, her eyes widening. No.
Hulk opened his palms and smirked down at the downed Wasp. He raised his fist to finish the annoying little bug. Eevee crouched down and jumped, opening her muzzle.
She clamped down on Hulk's fist, her small front legs wrapping around his wrist. She opened her mouth to get a better hold before biting down again.
Hulk yelled, dropping Wasp and trying to fling Eevee off his hand. Eevee closed her eyes and chomped down harder.
Hulk growled and fisted his other hand. "Let Hulk go!" He shouted, bringing down his fist onto the annoying biting thing's side.
Eevee yelped, her fangs getting ripped out of Hulk's hand as she was flung to the side, skidding off Giant-Man's chest and falling to the dirt below.
'No...' Bruce Banner whispered, watching through Hulk's eyes as his beloved pet was hurt by his own hands. 'NO!' With that, the metal chains made out of dark magic shattered, freeing the Hulk's and Bruce's mind but the damage was done.