Unlimited Marvels #1 (Featuring Incredible Hulk)

[Spider-Man Beyond]

Unlimited Marvels #1
Green Rage
Part 1:
A Monster Born

Written by Aaron Martel
Edited by Daniel Dyer

Featuring... the Incredible Hulk

Desert Base, New Mexico, 19:00 hours

Deep below the ground surface of the Desert Base military complex Dr. Robert “Bruce” Banner was finishing his final adjustments to the gamma reactor he had designed and built for the U.S. government. He was tingling with excitement as he inspected a safety valve one more time and stood back to view his creation, satisfied. He turned to his young intern assistant, Rick Jones, who gave him an encouraging grin and a thumbs up.

“Looks good, doc,” Rick enthused. “Tomorrow should be a go.”

“Yes…” Bruce rubbed his chin, thinking of the many safety checks they had performed that evening. “Just making sure we didn’t miss anything.”

“Well, I’m sure we got it all. I’m calling it a night,” Rick shook hands with Bruce, then dismissed himself.

Bruce took a lingering look at the machine, recalling how long it took to get him to this point. He was a brilliant nuclear physicist, top of his class at California Institute of Technology, when he was recruited by the United States military to design and build something he had been toying with since his undergraduate days. It was a gamma reactor, harnessing the power of gamma rays, cleaner and more efficient than the nuclear reactors that were currently in use by the armed forces. He set to work and within a year the prototype was built and sitting in the massive heavily shielded underground bunker, ready for its trial run the next day. It was a professional and personal triumph just to get this far, and if the reactor worked the way he hoped all of his dreams would come true. Well, almost all.

Bruce looked at his watch and with a start realized he was late for his appointment. He quickly yet carefully shut down the reactor control board and turned down the control room lights. As he departed the gamma reactor testing facility he bid goodnight to the two MPs who were guarding the entrance. The two guards saluted Bruce and sealed the thick steel door while the pencil-thin scientist rushed into the elevator that would take him back up to the surface.

***

[Spider-Man Beyond]

Giovanni’s Restaurant, 20:01 hours

“…So I think I still need to double check that coupling,” Bruce garbled through a mouthful of linguine and clam sauce.

Across from him was the beautiful smiling face of Betty Ross, biology professor at Desert State University and the girlfriend of Bruce Banner.

“Bruce,” Betty said reassuringly. “You’ve been ready for this your whole life. I’m sure tomorrow will be a smashing success.”

Bruce smiled sheepishly. “Guess I’ve been talking about it too much huh?”

“No, but when you’re late for dinner you’re supposed to tell your date how wonderful she looks,” Betty teased.

Bruce peered around the restaurant as if he was being watched by someone. “I’m sorry, Betty. You look beautiful. It’s just tomorrow, all that pressure…”

She patted his hand. “I know Bruce, I know. It’s a big day.”

“So tomorrow night we’ll go out and celebrate?” Bruce put forth.

“I’d like that,” Betty smiled brilliantly. “It’s getting harder and harder to come up with excuses for my dad.”

Bruce gave her a grave look. “Yeah. Boy it must be hard having him hang all over you all the time.”

“Well, he’s just protective of me,” Betty excused. “I’m all he’s got. Well, me and the army.” Betty smiled wistfully.

“I don’t think he likes me very much,” Bruce deadpanned.

Betty gave a fake cross look. “No, he likes you. You’re just not the big rough military type he’s used to being around.”

“And is that your type, Miss Ross?” Bruce asked.

“Nope. I go for the brainy, cute, super-nerdy type,” Betty laughed.

“I wonder what your dad would say if he saw us here, “ Bruce wondered mischievously.

“He’d say,” came a stern craggy voice from behind Bruce. “What the hell are you two doing here?”

The two dinner dates looked up from their table and stared into the hard eyes of General Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross, Commanding Officer of Desert Base and Betty’s father.

***

[Spider-Man Beyond]

Desert Base, 01:30 hours

The heavy steel door gently swung open, and the MP flicked on a small penlight to penetrate the darkness of the control room. Moving stealthily, the guard made his way to the far wall, where he activated a hidden switch that caused the panel to slide over and reveal a small vault built into the wall itself. Quietly the guard pressed another button on his penlight, and a thin yet powerful laser emitted from the tip as he traced around the vault lock. The vault door fell open, and the MP removed a set of blueprints from the safe’s interior. Producing a miniature camera from his uniform, the guard took numerous photographs of the blueprints illuminated by the penlight before returning the documents to the safe. He then looked through the viewport at the gamma reactor sitting dormant in its chamber.

Punching in the code and opening the massively shielded door to the reactor chamber the MP slipped inside and approached the gamma reactor itself, which was humming with tremendous but untapped power. The guard utilized his penlight and sliced through a critical safety valve and some other key electrical wires under the giant machine. Stepping back, he snapped some photos of the reactor and hurriedly departed the chamber, sealing the door behind him. Now in the control room, he flipped numerous switches on the panel until he heard the unmistakable whine of the reactor powering up. Lastly, the guard slipped out of the control room, secured the door, and rushed past the other MP who was lying unconscious on the floor.

***

[Spider-Man Beyond]

Bruce Banner’s quarters, 02:00 hours

The phone buzzed incessantly and Bruce, who had finally just fallen asleep, didn’t want to get up and answer it. Turning on his nightstand light, Bruce picked up the receiver to hear the frantic voice of Rick Jones on the other end.

“Doc! Doc! Come quick! The reactor’s on!”

“Huh?” Bruce was struggling to wake up and didn’t know if he heard correctly.

“Doc! The reactor’s powering up!”

And he was out the door.

***

[Spider-Man Beyond]

Gamma reactor installation, 02:12 hours

Bruce leaped out of the jeep just as General Ross was arriving on the scene himself. The general yelled to him as Bruce raced to the control room door.

“Banner! What in Sam Hill’s going-”

“Not now, General!” Bruce exclaimed, sealing the door.

Bruce found his assistant Rick turning dials and flipping switches in a desperate attempt to shut down the reactor. He sounded half-panicked, half-relieved when he saw the doctor.

“Doc! I can’t shut it down!” Rick shrieked.

“All right,” Bruce was trying to remain calm. “You’ve tried to reroute the systems?”

“Yeah, Doc, but nothing I try works!”

“Something is wrong. The controls aren’t responding.” Bruce was puzzled as he threw more switches and levers. “What if we try-”

And then the unthinkable.

“Doc!” Rick screamed. “The rods are raising!”

The two scientists watched in horror as the vibranium control rods began slowly rising from the reactor core, causing the red alert alarms to blare and bathing the control room in an eerie red light.

“Oh my God,” Bruce breathed. “If those rods reach critical height the reactor reaches critical mass and then…”

The word was unspoken between them: meltdown.

“Doc! We can’t shut it down!” Rick repeated, in complete panic.

Bruce snapped out his frozen moment of shock. “We have to cut the main! Fast!”

Tearing open the main control panel , Rick isolated the wires that supplied electrical power to the reactor itself and ripped them out of the panel, showering the two men with sparks. The auxiliary power kicked in, but the vibranium rods had stopped moving. Rick nearly collapsed from exhaustion and fear.

“Good work,” Bruce stammered, wiping his sweat-soaked brow with shaking fingers.

But the auxiliary power kept the reactor operating, and Bruce realized the rods were too far from the core to prevent the radioactive build-up from continuing. The alarms were too loud for Rick to discern that the danger was far from over. The meltdown would still transpire. The only way to prevent that and save the entire base (and beyond) was to-

“I have to return the rods manually,” Bruce whispered.

“What?” Rick was flabbergasted. “You can’t-”

“It’s the only way to stop it!” Bruce was in command and resolute. “I’m going in! Rick, tell Betty I love her! I didn’t get the chance!”

Rick was choked up. “Doc, there’s gotta be another-”

“There’s no time!” Bruce was already rapidly punching the code to enter the reactor chamber.

Rick observed the entire scene as if it was in slow motion. Doctor Banner rushed to the reactor and climbed the narrow ladder to reach the top. He then grabbed a control rod in each hand and began to physically push them back down into the core, a painstakingly arduous process. As he did so his face and body began to glow with a bright green hue, and Rick knew that Bruce was being absolutely bombarded with gamma radiation. Two by two the skinny scientist forced the rods down, and Rick could only stand in horror and admire the doctor for his sheer tenacity and iron will. By the time he reached the last of the rods -there were thirty in all- Bruce’s movements began to slow and it was apparent his breathing was labored but still he persevered until the task was completed.

When the last control rod was returned the reactor shut down completely as the gamma particles were absorbed into the vibranium. Bruce slumped and fell down the ladder but somehow managed to land on his feet. As Rick watched in wonder and fright Bruce staggered forward a few steps and appeared to try to say something but collapsed before he could get the words out. Bruce had saved Desert Base from certain doom but paid for his heroism with his life.

Or at least he should have.

***

[Spider-Man Beyond]

Desert Base medical facility, three weeks later, 20:45 hours

“The doctors say you’ll be discharged tomorrow.”

Bruce nodded as Betty Ross closed the curtains to his hospital room, masking it from the moonlit night outside. Bruce admitted to himself that he was ready to leave; he had done all the tests, physical and psychological, and as far as the army doctors could tell he was remarkably healthy. There were traces of radiation in his blood, but by all accounts he was relatively fit and sound. He even felt fine, which went against all logic and any manner of reasonable thinking.

Dead. I should be dead.

“I’ll come by to pick you up, is that okay?” Betty asked.

“Yeah, yes. Of course.” Bruce had always been heartened by Betty’s visits. She was the one thing that made life easier to bear.

“You seem distracted. Everything okay?” Betty’s voice was concerned.

“Yes,” Bruce replied, giving her his attention. “Have you heard anything from Rick?”

“Not lately. I know he’s been working on trying to figure out what went wrong that night. Dad says they still haven’t found that MP who sabotaged your machine.”

“He’s sure that’s who it was?”

“Had to be,” Betty said matter-of-factly. “He gassed his partner and broke into the chamber and now he’s gone. His name is Androv or something. Dad thinks he’s a spy.”

A spy. After the gamma reactor. Bruce couldn’t believe it.

“When I get out of here I’ll get right back to work and try to install better safeguards-”

“Okay, okay.” Betty’s face grew tender. “You need some sleep, Doctor Banner. I’ll be by tomorrow.” She kissed him gently and started for the door.

“Betty?” Bruce called after her.

She turned to gaze at him. “Yes?”

He wanted to speak, to say something, but couldn’t find the words. “Nothing….” he said flatly.

“Good night, Bruce.” Betty smiled sweetly and left the room.

Alone with his thoughts Bruce began to brood over his situation until his door banged open and “Thunderbolt” Ross strode in. The old general seemed agitated and a sense of dread crept up Bruce’s spine.

“You’re out tomorrow, I hear,” Ross said sharply.

“That’s what they tell me.” Bruce felt himself internally squirming.

“Then I guess I should tell you they’re going to let you resume work on your toy, against my recommendations.” the general’s eyes were dull, hard.

“A-against your…” Bruce began.

“You nearly destroyed my friggin’ base, you little twit!” Ross roared. “I have a good mind to throw you in the clink! I wonder if you had something to do with it!”

“Wh-what?” Bruce was speechless. But in the pit of his stomach, he began to feel a sudden hot sting of anger.

“Maybe you wanted to screw up so you could keep milking the US Army of its precious dollars!” Ross was displaying his legendary temper. “Or maybe you wanted to stay close to Betty longer!”

Ah, the truth. But Bruce was beginning to boil inside as well. “I assure you, General Ross, I had nothing to do with-”

“Save it Banner,” Ross thundered. “But God help you if this Androv talks when we catch him.”

Ross imperiously marched to the door. He was under control now but his words seethed with disgust. “I’ll be watching you like a hawk, Banner. Remember that.”

Then Ross paused before exiting the room. “And stay away from my daughter, got it?” And he barged out before Bruce could say anything.

***

[Spider-Man Beyond]

Bruce Banner’s hospital room, 22:20 hours

Bruce couldn’t sleep. He kept thinking about all the events that had occurred in the past few weeks and they gnawed at his soul. Surprisingly to him, the one emotion that superseded the others was a growing red hot spike of anger burning in his gut. Bruce leaped out of bed and began to pace the room.

General Ross. Accusing me of sabotaging my life’s dream?

I talked to those MPs all the time! And one of them betrayed me?

All that work! Those countless hours I spent working on that reactor and now I have to start at square one?

If my father could see me now I bet he’d be laughing at me. Laughing AT ME-

As a wild rage consumed Bruce something deep within him stirred. It was coming out of him and through him, and Bruce could not slow or stop it. His body writhed in agony as his muscles stretched and began to expand at a rapid pace. His bones thickened and elongated as his shirt began to rip away from his torso and his feet burst through his socks. His skin color darkened to a deep emerald green as his head expanded and his brow became more pronounced, more primitive.

And with a mighty roar the creature who had once been Dr. Bruce Banner shed the last of his clothes, with only tight and tattered purple pants covering his nether regions. The creature looked around the room like a wild animal, despising its confined quarters. Spying the curtains and connecting them somehow to the outside world, the great green giant lunged forward.

After hearing all the commotion coming from Dr. Banner’s quarters, three of the night nurses rushed into the room only to discover the entire far wall had been torn down exposing the room to the crisp night desert air.

***

[Spider-Man Beyond]

Desert Base, 22:45 hours

The two MPs had been on patrol in their jeep for nearly four hours, and their watch was just about over. Nothing exciting, just the usual dull nighttime business, but the soldiers nonetheless logged their shift properly so their relief would have no trouble picking up from where they left off. They were about to drive back to post when one of them spotted something.

“Myers. Did you see that?” One of the MPs nudged his partner.

“No,” Myers yawned. “See what?”

“Drive that way, towards the latrine,” the other said as the jeep rounded the corner and nearly crashed into an enormous green creature standing right in its path. The monster turned to face them and in the jeep’s headlights it reminded the soldiers of Frankenstein’s monster.

“Holy!” Myers leaped out of the jeep, training his rifle toward the giant. “Freeze!” It sounded stupid but in the heat of the moment it was the best he could come up with.

The monster stood staring at the small beings posturing in front of it with a bewildered expression on its face.

“Hotel Three to Desert One, do you copy?” the second MP barked into his radio, eyes locked on the monster.

“Desert One copy” came the reply over the static.

“Uh, Desert One I have a visual on some kind of… hulk standing in front of us in the northern quadrant near the latrine,” the soldier reported.

“Did you say “hulk” Hotel Three?”

“Affirmative! A hulk! A big green monster blocking our path!”

“…Hulk…” rumbled the deep voice of the creature, which startled the MPs so much they nearly shot at it.

Myers looked at his partner in shock. “It talks?”

The stalemate was broken as the creature took a lengthy stride in the soldiers’ direction--

And they opened fire!

Bullets sprayed toward the monster from both MP’s automatic rifles, striking the creature and causing it to bellow with rage. After nearly fifteen seconds of continued assault, the MPs finally ceased fire to wait for the thick dust to clear.

When it did, the soldiers were horrified to find the creature still standing in front of them, apparently unharmed and obviously aggravated.

“Little men… tried to hurt Hulk,” the Hulk growled. “Now Hulk will hurt little men!”

To be continued...