Harlem Showdown Prelude
Chapter 18
The street running along the north end of the campus behind Sterns’ building is closed off by police vehicles.
Soldiers escort Tony with Gohan in his arms, the sling on his back, and Betty out of Sterns' building while carting Bruce out on a stretcher.
Bruce is tied down to the stretcher, his wrists cuffed in enormous, possibly slightly futuristic shackles with electro-magnetic locks, He is awake, but groggy.
Betty is walking beside him, talking to him, her wrist in a splint. Two soldiers walk with them, standing guard.
Tony is a few steps behind them, talking with Gohan through the boy's telepathy. 'Are you ok, Kiddo?'
Gohan manages a small nod. 'I think so...but this feels the same as when Obadiah dosed me with S-Suppressor.'
Tony keeps himself from outwardly reacting and continues looking ahead to avoid drawing any suspicion from their captors. 'That shouldn't be possible. All of Obi's henchman that made it were taken into SHIELD custody, and I personally made sure their entire supply of it was destroyed.'
'I'm not sure how they could've gotten it or how they knew it would affect me, but this is definitely S-Suppressor.' Gohan responds.
Tony sees General Ross in the distance and glares at him for a moment, then looks back down at Gohan. 'Once we're out of this mess, I'm gonna be having a long talk with the good General about that.'
'Does that mean you have a plan to get us out of this?' Gohan asks.
Tony blanches at Gohan's hopeful tone. 'Uhh...I'll have to get back to you on that. But for now just hold onto this while I work something out.'
Before Gohan can ask what Tony means, he feels him slip something into his hand.
Immediately recognizing the feel of the object, Gohan asks, 'Isn't this your capsuled armor?'
'Yeah, I figure they might search me, but while you're unable to move, they'll overlook checking you for anything. Considering what they saw of your abilities yesterday, they won't think you have any weapons on ya.'
Gohan closes his hand around the capsule. 'I understand, I'll make sure it doesn't go anywhere.'
Tony smirks at Gohan and assures, 'Don't worry, Squirt, I promise we're going to be ok.' Hoping he appears as confident as he sounds.
Gohan nods again. 'Not a doubt in my mind.'
As Tony and Gohan begin to strategize, Ross talks with Cabot.
"Never seen anyone come round from a tranq dose like that. Why the hell aren’t we keeping him under?" Cabot asks, worried about a potential Hulk-Out.
Ross scoffs. "You want to be the one to stick a needle in his arm that he doesn’t want?" He looks over at Betty who's sticking close to Bruce. "She’s our best insurance. Keep her right next to him...He knows if he pops off it’s her that gets hurt."
Cabot concedes Ross' point and moves on to the next subject. "What do you want to do with Sterns?"
"I want him pinned in that lab with you. Don’t let him leave the room to piss until he’s identified every bottle, every box, every machine in the place. Then package it up and get it back home. Then get aiding and abetting charges and get him turned over to us. If Banner won’t give us answers maybe we can get him to."
Cabot nods and heads into the building.
As Bruce is being rolled past Ross, he approaches, looks him over, worried that since he hasn't changed yet, he might have succeeded in curing himself. So he threatens him, "If you took it from me, I'm gonna put you in a hole for the rest of your life."
Bruce says nothing while he gets taken off the stretcher and is put in shackles.
He's walked up the rear ramp of the Sikorsky under Ross’s gaze.
As Betty moves to follow him, Ross puts a hand on her arm and stops her.
"Betty..." He starts to say but stops.
She just glares at him. "I will never forgive what you have done to him. And to me."
Ross dismisses her anger and tries to justify his actions. "He is a fugitive. He made choices and I have a responsibility..."
But Betty isn't having it and counters his reasoning. "You made him a fugitive! To cover your failures and save your career. He told me what you said to him after the accident, before I woke up...what you proposed. That’s why he ran and gave up..."
Ross refuses to admit she's right and keeps digging his heels in. "His work...his blood...is the property of the United States Army and my duty supersedes my personal feelings in this matter."
Betty refuses to react to her father's nonsense and mockingly replies, "Truth, Justice, and the American Way..."
"Something like that." He stubbornly shoots back.
"You have to start with Truth or the rest of it doesn’t work. Don’t speak to me as your daughter. Not ever again." She retorts, then turns to get in the aircraft with Bruce.
As she's moving up the ramp, Ross stops her again and tells her, "It’s only because you’re my daughter that you’re not in handcuffs too."
She says nothing and moves to sit in front of Bruce.
Having heard some of that exchange as he steps into the aircraft, Tony quips at Ross, "I wouldn't count on getting a card for father's day ever again, huh, General?"
"Just get in, Stark!" Ross growls. "And make sure you and that super-boy sidekick of yours co-operate."
Tony sits Gohan next to Betty, has JARVIS move the sling around to his chest, and sits next to Bruce before facing Ross and replying, "Sorry, General, but this is all the cooperation you're gonna get out of us." He nonchalantly flips him off.
Bruce and Betty both crack smiles at this, then can barely suppress their laughter when Gohan asks, "What does showing him your middle finger mean?"
Ross decides not to talk back at Tony and just moves to the front of the aircraft while Tony tells the boy, "I'll tell you when you're older."
-Sterns' Lab-
A sentry stands outside the doors, while Cabot questions Sterns. "...then it’s not the same."
"Not exactly no, but it could be better. What happened to him was a freak accident. We’ve sorted out some of the pieces but I don’t think I could put together the same Humpty Dumpty just yet if you follow me..." Sterns explains.
"I don’t want to know if you can make another one, I want to know if Banner’s the only serious threat at the–" Cabot tries to reply, but suddenly stops, jerks a little, then her eyes roll back into her head, and she slumps over.
Blonsky is standing behind her, keeping the gun he just hit her in the back of her head with in his hand. "Bitch never shuts up."
Sterns stares in bewilderment at Blonsky and asks, "Why are you always hitting people all the time?"
Blonsky justs cocks his gun and points it at Sterns' face.
"What could I have possibly done to deserve such aggression?" Sterns asks.
"It’s not what you’ve done. It’s what you’re going to do." Blonsky tells him.
"Well I like your use of future tense in that sentence anyway." Sterns quips.
"I want what you got out of Banner." Blonsky demands. "I want it in me."
Sterns eyes him appraisingly. "You look like you’ve got a little something in you already, don’t you?"
"I want more. You've seen what he becomes, right?"
"I have, and it’s beautiful...God-like."
"Well I want that..'huff'...I need that. Make me that."
"I don’t know what you've got inside you already...the mixture could be...an abomination." Sterns explains.
Blonsky grabs Sterns by the front of his jacket with one hand, easily lifts him up, and places his gun under the man's chin.
"I didn't say I was unwilling, I just need ‘informed consent’...and you’ve given it!"
-In the Air-
The Sikorsky cuts through the air over the Hudson River.
Bruce and Betty sit across from each other toward the rear with Tony and Gohan next to them, and armed soldiers flanking them.
Ross is up toward the front with communications officers and a bunch of monitors.
Bruce and Betty stare at each other. She takes his hand and holds it. Bruce lifts their linked hands and kisses the back of hers.
They both look to Tony and Gohan and Betty asks, "Are you ok?"
They both nod and Tony quietly tells them, "Yeah, the kid just needs some time for that crap to run its course then he'll be good as new."
The couple smile in relief and Bruce asks, "The way you said that means you've dealt with whatever that stuff is before, what's the story behind that?"
Tony and Gohan look to each other and Tony telepathically asks, 'Do you mind linking them to us so we can explain it all without talking out loud?'
'Sure. No problem.' Gohan replies.
Tony smirks, turns back to Bruce and Betty and tells them, "Heads up, something strange is about to happen. Try not to freak out."
They both blink at Tony's warning then hear Gohan's voice in their heads. 'Bruce, Betty, I've linked our minds so we can just think to talk to each other.'
They both startle a bit, but manage to school their expressions.
'Like this?' Bruce thinks.
Betty blinks. 'Oh my God, Bruce, I heard that.'
Bruce looks at Betty, both more than a little shaken up by this, when they both hear Tony's voice. 'I know it's a lot to take in, but this is the best way to plan our getaway.'
'Ok, so what was that stuff Gohan was dosed with and how long until he's good to go again?' Bruce asks.
Gohan and Tony quickly explain about the Saiyan tail weak spot and how the S-Suppressor came to be.
'We know how it works but aren't sure how long this dose will last.' Gohan finishes.
'Though since the mask filtered some if not most of it out, hopefully the effects won't last too long.' Tony adds, some guilt creeping in from the back of his mind that his upgraded equipment couldn't completely protect Gohan from this surprise attack.
'Well hopefully it won't be much longer until you're better, Gohan, but how did my dad even get this S-Suppressor stuff or know it would affect you like this?' Betty wonders.
'Well, once this is over, I'm gonna be asking him those same questions.' Tony responds, a little of his anger coming through the mental link.
None of them mention it and begin formulating a plan to get out of their current predicament, but are interrupted when Ross begins shouting at someone over radio.
-Sterns' Lab-
Sterns has Blonsky on a table and hooks him to a container of synthesized blood he made from Bruce's blood.
He activates a machine and a green light envelops Blonsky.
All the surrounding equipment starts going haywire as Blonsky begins to change.
Blonsky starts growling like an animal while Sterns tries to repair the machinces. "This is what I was trying to explain...I don't know what you've been ladling into yourself...But it clearly worked."
Blonsky stands up off the table while still transforming and approaches Sterns.
"Let's assume you don't understand a word I'm saying..." Sterns says to Blonsky as he gets closer. "But if you'll just get back on the table, I can fix this."
The change is complete, Blonsky’s body is similar in height and in color to the Hulk's, except spikes have grown out of various parts of his body. His elbows, behind his legs, and a row of them over his spine.
The beast takes a swing at Sterns and sends him crashing into the monitor where he had the blood set up.
Having been shook up by the crash, some of the blood leaks out of it's container and drips right onto an open cut on Sterns head as Blonsky is cackling in the background.
A few more drops land on the the scientist's wound and everything from his forehead and above starts bulging out and changing.
A smile breaks out on his face as the screams of the soldiers standing guard echo throughout the room, a sign of them being attacked by Blonsky.
Outside the building, a few of Blonsky's team and some NYPD officers are keeping the area on lockdown when the sentries left inside fly out of the lab window.
One crashes into a nearby power line, sending sparks flying around the area, and another hits a building across the street from the lab.
The cops hit the deck while the soldiers move in and report the situation over the radio.
"Delta 4 to Leader! They took out two of our guys! Two of our guys! Blonsky and the Major are still inside!"
The monster jumps down from the lab and walks down the road in front of the soldiers.
They pursue him while he heads toward a high traffic area and starts attacking anything and anyone in sight.
-In the Air-
Everyone in the aircraft hear from the radio. "Delta 4 to Leader, something big just went off down here!"
"General, you should hear this!" An officer calls for Ross to listen to the radio.
As soon as he takes the radio, he hears. "The Hulk is in the street! I repeat, the Hulk is in the street!"
Ross turns and stares at Bruce as if double checking he was still in the aircraft with him.
Bruce, Tony, Betty, and Gohan turn to look at the General while he replies, "That's impossible. You get a hold of yourself, young man. You get it together. What is your position?"
"121st street, heading north on Broadway!" The soldier replies.
Ross puts down the radio and orders the pilot, "Turn us around."
The pilot nods and the helicopter banks sharply.
In the back Bruce, Tony, Betty, and Gohan, having not heard most of the radio exchange can’t tell what’s going on, but they can tell something has gone horribly wrong.
"We’re going back. Why are we going back?" Bruce asks aloud.
Bruce, Betty, and Tony look at Ross as he shouts into the radio while looking at the monitors. "Damn it! Give me eyes down there!"
As the soldier on the other side of the line follows Ross' order, Gohan extends his senses and is surprised when he feels a presence extremely similar to Bruce while in Hulk form out in the direction they're now heading. Except this one isn't full of rage and confusion, it's pure darkness and malice.
Sirens, explosions, and screams come in over the monitor.
As Gohan starts telepathically explaining what's happening to Tony, Bruce, and Betty, Blonsky is causing havoc and panic down on the streets.
The abomination is attacking people at random, and tossing cars all around the street.
Just as Gohan finishes informing them about what he sensed, Bruce catches a glimpse of the monster's silhouette on the monitor.
He quickly stands up and darts over to the monitor. "No!"
Betty and the other soldiers on board follow him to watch what's going on as well.
Tony moves over to Gohan and takes his capsuled armor back. "Looks like we might be needed pretty soon. How are you feeling, Kiddo?"
Gohan tries to stand up, but can't stay on his feet and falls back down onto the seat. "Still weak, but don't worry about me. Get ready to head out and help everyone down there."
Tony is about to protest but more horrified screams from the video feed stop him.
He and Gohan look at the monitor and watch Blonsky let out a roar.
Bruce and Betty turn to Ross and Bruce asks, "One of yours?"
Betty gasps and glares at her father. "Oh my God. What have you done?"
Ross says nothing and they turn back to the feed where the officers and soldiers are trying to gun the monster down while hordes of terrified bystanders run past them to get away from the beast.
The bullets have no affect on it and even when they try a rocket launcher, the abomination just chuckles and starts running toward the soldiers.
"Get out of there soldier!" Ross orders.
The soldiers began to flee in their vehicle, but it's too damaged to go full speed and comes to a halt when it crashes into an empty vehicle behind them.
Blonsky catches up to them, grabs a taxi that got a little too close to him, lifts it over his head, and shouts at the soldiers' bodycams, "Give me a real fight!"
He slams the taxi right on top of them, killing both soldiers and cutting the feed.
Everyone stands in silence for a few moments, then Ross orders his people, "Tell them to bring everything they've got and head for Harlem."
Knowing that with Gohan still out of commission and all of Ross' forces won't be enough, Bruce decides, "It has to be me. You have to take me back there."
"What are you saying?" Betty asks. "You think you can control it?"
Bruce shakes his head. "No, no, not control it, but...I don't know, maybe aim it."
"And what if you can't?!" Ross shouts.
Bruce just looks at him and says, "We made this. All of us. Please?"
Ross stays silent for a few moments, then orders the pilot, "Land us near it."
"No, no, no, keep us high. Open the back door." Bruce interjects.
Ross nods to the soldiers in the back, and the door starts to open.
As Bruce walks over to the exit, getting ready to jump out of the aircraft in hopes of forcing the transformation, Tony removes the sling, uncapsules the armor, and suits up.
Betty follows Bruce and tries to reason with him. "Bruce! Bruce, stop! What are you doing? Think about this! You don't even know if you'll change!"
Tony gives Gohan the sling and walks over to Bruce and Betty. "She's right, man. Besides, you said yourself that you didn't want to fight. I can hold him off while Ross’ people and the police evacuate the civilians, at least until the kid recovers."
Bruce leans over the exit but Betty grabs his arm. "You don't have to do this! Please, this is insane!"
Bruce just shakes his head and tells her, "Betty, I've got to try. I'm sorry."
He turns to Tony. "That armor may be tough, but the way it is now won't be enough to put that thing down for the count."
Tony nods, not liking to admit it, but knowing this current version of the armor wouldn't be enough to deal much damage to Blonsky.
Plus, he isn't confident that his level of Ki skills would be able to compensate. "Ok, I'll focus on evacuating the nearby people while you take care of business."
He turns to Betty and asks, "Can I count on you to watch my boys until Gohan recovers?"
Betty nods. "Of course."
'Good luck. I'll be down as soon as I can.' Gohan telepathically tells them.
Tony goes on ahead, Bruce and Betty share a quick but passionate kiss before he lets go of her and free falls out of the aircraft.
Bruce closes his eyes and tries to force the change, but after falling for several seconds with nothing happening, his eyes shoot open and he whispers, "Oh, shit!" before crashing into the ground below, forming a small crater.
Betty gasps in horror at the sight before Ross has some of the soldiers drag her back inside, and close the door.
Betty and Ross move to stare out the windows at the spot where Bruce landed.
The cracked pavement starts to shake, then a giant, green fist punches its way through it.
"There, Betty." Ross calls his daughter, hoping to reassure her that Banner is ok.
Betty just stares in silence while Hulk climbs out of the rubble.
Tony flies down next to him and slides his face plate up. "Good to see ya got down here in one piece, Buddy. Are you ready for a showdown?"
Hulk doesn't acknowledge Tony at all and just takes a step forward before letting out a ground shaking roar in Abomination's direction.
Tony smirks, brings the face plate back down, and quips, "I'll take that as a yes."