A/N: So, this whole fic treats the MCU portrayals of Hulk as alternate universes. I'm writing this because I feel like the Incredible Hulk is the only Hulk film to truly portray the character correctly. Now don't get me wrong, Mark Ruffalo did a great job in the Avengers, and he is a phenomenal actor, but after the first Avengers movie, the characters of Bruce Banner and the Hulk devolved into a joke. Edward Norton truly captured the feel of a man on the run, wrongly made a fugitive and fearing the power within him. This fic is also to clear some discrepancies. Mainly, the madder Hulk gets, the stronger he gets. This is shown easily in the 2009 film, but it seems like Hulk never gets stronger no matter what after that film. In every movie since the incredible hulk, Hulk never gets stronger as he gets angrier. I feel like this was especially showcased in Infinity War. I understand that Thanos needed to win, but Hulk fought him way too early, and was dispatched way too easily in my opinion. I get that the Hulk was shocked at Thanos hurting him, but this would also piss him off, which would make him stronger, and Thanos' combat skills would eventually backfire as Hulk's strength would eventually overpower him. So, as I've said, pretend Mark Ruffalo and Edward Norton's portrayals of the Hulk took place in alternate universes.
They had all just watched Emil Blonsky crush a jeep with four people in it, demanding a real fight. Bruce was shocked as he realized that another like him had been created, who embraced his power, happy to have such strength and speed. The only thing he could think of was Sterns. He had done this. He had made Blonsky into this thing using Bruce's own blood. This is what he was afraid of, what he wanted to prevent from doing, and now not just Sterns, but Bruce, Ross, and as much as he hated to admit it, Betty, were responsible for creating such a monster.
"Sir?" The pilot asked, breaking the silence that had befallen them as they waited for Ross's response. Ross gulped as he realized what had happened, what he had helped create. As much as Banner hated to admit, Thunderbolt Ross wasn't a completely evil man. He did what he felt was best for his country, and he truly cared for his daughter, and he did not like civilian casualties.
"Tell them to bring everything they've got and head for Harlem." Ross finally ordered, making up his mind. He was gonna stop this thing, or die trying. Bruce scoffed. If Blonsky's new form was anything like... him... the other guy... then all Ross was going to do was piss him off. He looked directly at Ross.
"It has to be me." He said to the General, catching the man's attention. "You have to take me back there."
"What are you saying?" Betty asked Bruce, fearing for what he was planning. "You think you can control it?" Bruce knew where she was going with this.
"No, no, not control it." Bruce said, shaking his head. Control? Not totally. But it was technically still him. "I don't know, maybe aim it."
"And what if you CAN'T?" Ross said, emphasizing what he meant. He obviously didn't have much faith in Bruce's plan, plus he didn't want to give the man up after all the hell he had went through to get him.
"We made this thing." Bruce said, looking at the man. "All of us." Bruce believed that as much as he believed the other guy was a curse. "Please." He begged. Ross glared at Bruce, not wanting to even consider, but he realized that Bruce's plan was their best bet.
"Land us near it." Ross finally relented, giving his order to the pilot. Bruce had other plans.
"No, no. No, keep us high." Bruce said, causing the Ross and Betty to look at him. "Open the back door." He clarified. Ross nodded to a soldier at the back of the helicopter, and the sound of the hydraulics, as well as the wind outside was immediately heard. Bruce walked towards the edge of the door.
"Bruce! Bruce, stop!" Betty said, running towards the edge as well, catching Bruce by the sleeve of his shirt. "Stop! What are you doing?!" Bruce jerked his head back around, already breathing heavily, attempting to raise his heart rate, but Betty wasn't done. "Think about this!" She begged, causing him to stop, and look at her. "You don't even know if you'll change!" She reasoned, very much against his plan, practically begging him not to do it. Bruce sighed, and attempted to turn around, but Betty tugged him again. "You don't have to do this! Please, this is insane!" She begged once more, in tears, in another effort to reason with him. Bruce stared into the eyes of the woman he loved, and his heart broke as he realized how much more this was going to hurt her than anything physical he could do.
"Betty, I've got to try." He said with a shake of his head. Betty looked absolutely heart broken, as if realizing that this was going to be the last time she would see him. "I'm sorry." Bruce apologized, leaning in as he intended to give Betty one final gift, directly from his heart, letting her know that he loved her, no matter what. Their lips met in a passionate kiss, both letting their other know what they truly felt. Betty was so surprised and caught up in their passion, that she noticed too late the Bruce had let go, Bruce's final view of her being her reaching out to him as he fell to the pavement bellow. He started focusing his heart rate, desperately trying to transform, but he realized that he wasn't transforming in the air.
"Oh shit!" Were Bruce's last words, before the sky seemingly changed colors, and everything went black.
Steve Rogers day had gone from hopelessness of facing an army alone, to sheer joy as everyone he thought dead, and those who still lived, walked through the portals created by all the sorcerers, as he realized that he would not be facing an army alone.
Everyone he knew, and some he didn't, from T'Challa, Sam, and Bucky, to Spider-Man, Doctor Strange, and Valkyrie walked through the portals. He realized that today, Thanos would lose, and this time, he would lose before he won. As everyone gathered up, he prepared to say his line, but Tony's voice in his ear caught his attention.
"I don't mean to hold up the epic moment, Cap, but my suit is detecting an energy signature above us." Tony informed the man, who looked up, seeing a portal open up above them. His motion caused some around him to do so as well.
"What is it?" He asked the Iron Man.
"F.R.I.D.A.Y, what are we looking at here?" The billionaire asked his AI.
"The portal bears a resemblance to quantum realm, but it shows properties of Doctor Strange's magic as well." The AI informed her boss.
"Where does it lead?" Thor asked, joining on their conversation.
"Harlem, in the year 2009."
"But shouldn't that be impossible?" Tony asked. "Thanos destroyed the Quantum Tunnel."
"That's the thing, Boss. It's not traveling through time."
"Then where is it-?" Cap's question was cut short by screaming causing both sides to look up in surprise. A man fell through through the portal, it closing immediately after. No one had time to rescue the man, who crashed into the ground, the sheer force with which he hit breaking it and burying the man.
"What was that, Mr. Stark?" Peter asked, joining in on the conversation, hoping his boss and mentor would know.
"F.R.I.D.A.Y?"
"The man's fine, although I'm picking up a growing amount of Gamma energy, and the vital signs are distinctly similar to the Hulk's." F.R.I.D.A.Y explained.
"Bruce?" Tony asked, aiming his repulsors at the crack in the ground.
"It's not me Tony." The large green man answered.
"It's not like Dr. Banner's vitals now." F.R.I.D.A.Y. explained. "It's more like his vitals during the battle with Ultron, but not the same." As Tony processed the words, everyone on the Avengers' side jumped slightly as a massive green fist punched through the asphalt. Everyone watched in shock as a massive massive green man crawled out, grunts coming from it. What remained of the man's shirt were wrapped around it's chest, and it wore shredded dark blue pants. Everyone looked on, realization hitting Bruce Banner and everyone who had meet man as everyone looked on in shock, as they realized that they were looking at a bigger, younger version of the man. But this wasn't Bruce Banner, nor was it the scientist merged with the other half. No.
This, was the Hulk.
And he was angry.
Everyone jumped slightly, as the Hulk roared in Thanos' direction.
"AVENGERS!" Steve's voice rang out among everyone as he realized that the Hulk was targeting Thanos, but his eyes widened when the Hulk looked back at him and growled. Everyone got in a defensive stance, ready to take this creature down, before he turned towards Thanos' army once more.
Thanos smirked. Different or same, he could beat this monster.
The Hulk growled as he began stomping towards the Mad Titan, ripping off what was left of his shirt and growling. Realizing his intentions, Steve began marching behind him. "Assemble." He uttered, and everyone began marching behind the Jade Giant.
Thanos took the challenge. He began marching forward as well, his eyes on the green goliath leading them, his army right behind him.
Usually, when he took over, it was because he and Banner were being attacked. But the last time, it was in an attempt by Banner to get rid of him, and the only thing that kept him from getting up and leaving was Betty on top of him. But this time, Banner wanted him to take over, but he left him with some directions. The only thing that he was left though was that he needed to fight something big, and that his foe was nothing but pure evil. So, when he crawled out of the asphalt, spotted the purple man dressed in gold, he assumed that the man was his target.
He marched towards him, and he heard the man in blue say 'Assemble.' before he heard footsteps behind him. The people behind him were after the man as well. He growled, ripping remains of Banner's shirt off, before slowly moving into a jog, his opponent doing the same. With a snarl, he broke off into a sprint, his goal being to smash his target into bits. The distance between the two closed quickly, neither of their attention on the armies opposite of them. They were only focused on each other. When they were withing distance, Hulk jumped, and his opponent did as well, but Hulk won out, catching the purple man in a tackle. When they landed, he went into a roll, tossing his opponent. He gave him no time to recover. He quickly closed the distance, delivering a brutal kick to the side of the purple man's ribs. The man grunted as he was sent flying, but Hulk wasn't able to approach him as he felt an unseen force push him to a knee.
"You dare attack Thanos, our savior. You'll die for that." Said a grey man with no nose. Hulk growled. He picked up a nearby piece of rubble, and threw it so fast that the man had no time to react. It hit him with such force that the man turned to red paste. Hulk stood to his feet, turning to go after the purple man, but Thanos had already recovered, and delivered a powerful punch that sent Hulk flying. Hulk landed on his face, shocked, but also incredibly angry. The purple man had punched him, and it had HURT! He was going to show the purple man how much he could hurt him.
"Hey, are you alright?" A voice to Hulk's left caught his attention, and he spotted a teen, no older than 18, coming up to him, offering him a hand up. Hulk looked at the hand, before looking at the kid. No one had ever shown him any kindness, or any willingness to help before, except Betty. To find someone else willing to do so surprised him. He grunted, and gave a nod to the teen. The teen nodded. "Okay. Are you gonna fight Thanos?" Hulk was assuming that the purple man's name was Thanos, based on what this teen and the gray man called him.
"Gonna smash Thanos." He said with a growl. The teen nodded.
"Cool. Hey, Mr. Stark gave me a communicator to give to you." The teen said, producing pulling out a small circular device. "He said you wouldn't have one." He held out the device to Hulk, who took it, looking at the device in confusion. He brought it up to his eye to examine. The thing was practically microscopic in his large hands, and there was nothing really noticeable about it. He looked at the teen in confusion. The teen gestured to his own ear, and then to Hulk's. "It goes in your ear." Hulk looked at the device in confusion, and slowly brought it up to his ear, pushing it inside. Hulk's eyes widened in surprise as another voice came through the communicator.
"Hey, kid, you give the ear piece to him yet?" Someone said, and the teen seemed to have heard it as well.
"Yeah, he's wearing it now Mr. Stark." The teen responded, as some sort of red mask with glowing blue eyes seemed to materialize over the teens face.
"Alright then. If you can hear me, Greenie, touch your ear and say something." Hulk growled, annoyed at being ordered around. He touched his ear.
"Hulk." He responded. The voice on the other end sighed.
"Yeah, I figured that's who you were." The voice said. "Listen, I'm Tony Stark, and the kid in front of you is Peter Parker. Right now, where in a war. A man named Thanos wants six objects called Infinity Stones, and if he gets them, he's going to wipe out the universe. We can't let that happen."
"I'll smash him." Hulk said, focusing his gaze on the man, who was fighting against a few of the people with the orange sphears. He spotted a damaged car on his left, and got an idea. Peter jumped out of the way as Hulk tore it open with a roar. He smashed it completely in half, and picked up each end, turning them into makeshift boxing gloves. He rushed his target, closing the distance in no time and delivering a powerful right hook. Thanos swung around to face Hulk, just in time to receive a rear bumper to the face. Thanos was surprised by the force of the attacks, and Hulk didn't give him time to recover. He kept delivering punches, his makeshift gloves being reduced to scrap metal with each punch. Thanos lost his footing, and a particularly brutal and powerfull punch sent him flipping to the ground, but evem then, he found now relief as Hulk delivered a haymaker into Thanos while he was on the ground. About five more hits reduced the car to spare parts, leaving nothing but what was left of an engine in Hulk's hand. Hulk chucked away, and wrapped his fist around Thanos' neck, delivering a powerful punch to the Titan.
"Hulk! The stones!" Hulk looked to his right, seeing a man in black with a bow and arrow running with a golden gauntlet in his hands. Hulk snorted.
"It looks like someone's already on it." This exchange left Thanos enough time to recover, and he delivered a punch that caught Hulk's jaw, causing him to stumble back in surprise. Thanos was on his feet quickly, delivering blow after precise blow, focusing on pressure points and critical spots, but they weren't enough to bring him down. Sure, they hurt, but they were also making him angry. Thanos landed a blow to the abdomen, then to the neck, before going for a final one to knock Hulk out, but to Thanos' shock, Hulk caught the fist, glaring at Thanos, his teeth gritted in a snarl. Thanos attempt to punch with his other fist, but instead found both hands stuck in the grasp of this bigger, stronger foe. With a growl, Hulk devilered a powerful headbutt, before grabbing the titan by the throat and lifting him up by the throat.
"Rain fire!" Thanos ordered somone. After a second he spoke again. "Just do it!" Hulk's attention was brought to the massive ship on the Titan's side of the field, and his eyes widened in surprise as the guns on the bottom of the ship all refocused on the battle and began firing. A blast hit extremely close to his position, sending him and the Titan flying. Hulk quickly jumped to his feet, roaring at the ship, intending to jump to it and smash it, when a familiar voice cried out nearby. He turned to find Peter, curled up into a ball, screaming in terror as the guns rained down. Hulk gave one last glance at the ship, before growling in annoyance. He rushed to Peter's spot and was quick to cover him, protecting him from the raining gun fire, but also making himself an easy target. He felt a blast hit him square in the back, and he grunted in pain. A few seconds followed, before another hit him. Finally, a third one hit, and then everything went quiet. Hulk stood up, Peter looking up as well, both looking at the ship. The guns were now aimed in the sky, firing at something.
"What the hell is this?" Another new voice asked what everybody was thinking.
"F.R.I.D.A.Y, what're they firing at?" Tony asked someone.
"Something just entered the upper atmosphere!" A female voice replied. Hulk shrugged off the conversation, turning back to Peter.
"Hurt?" Hulk asked the teen, who shook his head.
"Uh-uh." Peter said. Hulk noticed the gauntlet the man was carrying from earlier, but now he was able to get a good look at it. It had six glowing stones in it, one in each knuckle and one on the back of the palm. He raeched over and picked up the gauntlet, examining the items. Peter seemed to notice his confusion. "Those are the infinity stones. Who ever has them all can do or have anything with the snap of their fingers. Thanos wants them so he can destroy the universe." Hulk looked at the gauntlet, and got an idea. If whoever had the stones could have whatever they wanted, then he could use the stones to wipe out this army. Why hadn't anyone done that already? He moved to put the gauntlet on, and Peter's eyes widened. "No, wait!"
But he was too late. The guantlet closed around his fist, and Hulk had his answer as to why no one had used it. He roared to the heavens as pain shot through his hand, all the way up his arm. A pain like none he had felt before. Getting angrier as the pain got worse, he looked at his hand, determined to beat this power. With a roar of determination, he brough his fingers together, and snapped, and a blinding light roamed the area as a result. Ripping the gauntlet off so the pain would stop, he looked around to see if his plan had worked. And it looked like it had.
Thanos' whole army was disappearing, even those flying roaring things. Thanos himself looked horrified, as he realized that he had lost. he collapsed to his knees, and Hulk glared at him.
"What have you done?" He asked as Hulk approached. Hulk looked at the fist that wore the glove. It was burnt, but it was slowly healing. With a growl, he punched Thanos as the titan turned to dust.
"What just happened?" A new female voice asked, as a blond woman in a red and blue suit landed near Peter and Hulk.
"He used the stones to kill Thanos' army, I think." Peter said.
"Well it worked." Tony's voice came through the intercom. Hulk suddenly felt weak. He realized that the battle was now over. He could rest. with a groan, he collapsed from the battle as he let Banner take over. On this day, he had once again proven that Hulk...
Was the Strongest There Is.
A/N And that's the end of that. I planned on making this a oneshot, but if it gets enough support, I may make a second chapter where Norton Hulk is returned to his Universe so that he can fight Abomination. I may also make a Ruby crossover, and a oneshot like this that uses 2003 Hulk. I actually liked the movie, and even though it had it's flaws, it was closer to the source material than most of the MCU. Anyway, I'll leave this up to you guys. I hope you enjoyed the fic.