Chapter Nine
Buffy ran down the maze, in the basement, knowing all too well the consequences if she was too late. The Hulk was a creature of destruction who needed to be stopped before he broke the lid that held the Hellmouth closed.
Buffy nearly tripped over a piece of debris, before she realized that the debris was groaning, groaning an awful like Spike.
She knew she should keep running, but she couldn't leave Spike trapped. Besides, she needed the help, for all the good it did against a creature like the Hulk. Even Glory didn't gave her this much trouble.
She got to work, pulling the debris and wood, careful not to impale the wooden pieces into Spike in her hurry to get him out.
"Spike!" She saw the lunatic vampire lying there, groaning.
"S-Slayer? Wha' happened?"
"Big green monster passin' by?" Buffy asked.
Spike sat up, holding his head in his hands, "Yeah, passing through the floor first, then after getting too close, I did some passin through those walls over there. Limey's out of his mind, he is."
Buffy grabbed an arm, and hauled Spike up. "Come on. I need your help."
Spike nodded, "Yes. Help the girl. That's what I'll do, I will. Lead the way, luv."
Buffy and Spike ran down the mazes, "I need your help, Spike. Do you know where the Hulk went?"
"The Hulk? Oi! Limey! Yeah. Had a chat with someone I couldn't see. Though I think I might be going wacky, coz I saw the big green transformin' into a human. Scrawny one, he was, too."
Buffy shook her head, dismissing that as one of his delusions. She's been worried about Spike lately. Something happened to him, that's for certain. She'd find out what that was when she had the time.
Meanwhile, the Hulk was snarling and roaring, as he pounded on the lid, but it still held in place.
"Aaaah... my dear Bruce...." The First smiled cruelly as it took on the form of General Thaddeus Ross.
The Hulk didn't seem to notice him, as his features curled in further in rage.
"ROSS!" Hulk screamed, marching ever forward, not letting piddly things like doorways and walls stop him.
The Hulk has always hated Ross. He never understood why Ross always hunted and hounded him, with guns, tanks, and planes.
"ROSS! Ross always hate Hulk, hunt and shoot Hulk with guns and tanks...Hulk smash them, now smash YOU!"
The Hulk's rage increased with every passing second, as did his strength, and a crack was starting to show on the doorway.
Buffy and Spike were getting close, real close, because the pounding was getting louder.
"So, Slayer, how do you want to play this? Limey ain't exactly peaceful." Spike asked, as he looked around.
"We have to stop him from opening the Hellmouth."
Spike raised an eyebrow at Buffy, "Ain't easy as you make it sound, luv. Big boy makes Glory look like Shirley Temple."
Buffy stared at him quizzically, he said, "shirley temple?" he began to dance and sings, "On the good ship, lollipop...this isn't a bloody rant!"
Buffy shook her head. She didn't have time for this, so she promptly bitchslapped Spike in the face, "Get a grip, Spike! I don't know what the hell gotten into you, but right now, we don't have time to psychoanalyze you."
"I'd right spend time thinking about what I'd do for a Klondike Bar and this isn't it."
Buffy dragged Spike by the collar, "I need your demon, Spike. I'm thinkin' the Hulk is being used to open the Hellmouth. I need you to lead me to the hole, since, you're, well, a demon, and the Hellmouth draws plenty'a demons."
"alright alright! I'll lead the bloody way" Spike said, guiding Buffy through the Hulk's destructive wake, closing in quickly.
Meanwhile the First, now in the form of Talbot, smiled, cruelly, at the Hulk's work, then tilted its head, not looking at anything in particular. "Well, well, the Slayer and her pet vampire appears to be getting closer. Perhaps a couple of vampires should amuse them till we're done."
Vampires, lackeys of the First, arrived in front of the Slayer and companion, barring the way. "This area's closed off to those with pulses!"
Spike then interjects, "Oh, that means only I can enter."
"And souls!"
"Oh, bloody hell." Buffy and Spike got into fighting stances as the vampires came at them. Buffy kicked and punched, along with Spike, who let his vamp face out for a spell, "Now, this I missed! A good fight! Come on, mates! The Big Bad's waitin'!"
Spike caught one punch, ducked another, kicking a vamp away. He bent the fist back, then coiled the arm underneath, snapping it. Afterwards, he snapped the vamp's neck. Buffy kicked a long wooden sliver and drove it deep into one vamp, dusting him, then another, dusting him.
Spike found a long wooden stick. He broke the end of it into something sharp and took out the vamp lunging from behind Buffy. "Buffy! Look out!" He threw the staff and it hit him in the chest, and he exploded into dust. Buffy looked back at Spike with a grateful look. Spike nodded, "Go. I'll take care of these blokes."
Buffy did so, noticing the sounds of the growls were straight ahead.
Spike took one last at the form of his Slayer, then went back to the vamps, "Who wants a shot at ol' Spike?" He smirks in challenge. Meanwhile Buffy stopped in her tracks as she saw the Hulk, who was really huge. She didn't know what she can do against him, but maybe she should try another strategry. "Hulk, stop! You don't know what you're doing!"
Hulk looked down at the girl, Crossbow girl as he "affectionately" called her, and swatted her away with his pinky finger. The blonde figure slammed hard against the far wall.
Buffy shook her head, "Okay, tryin' that again." she stood up, "Why are you doing this? I saw the kind of...person you are. You don't want to hurt anybody."
Hulk roared, swinging wildly, reaching his destination, a metallic covering with a weird goat-like face and stars on the lid. Buffy tried to pull Hulk's arm back, but as he swung it leisurely forward and back, the Slayer couldn't help but be dragged.
Spike ran into the room. He saw Buffy hangin' onto that big arm with her dear life. He could see that he was about to hit that doorway with his fist, which was attracted to the arm Buffy was hanging on. "Oh, bloody hell." He ran at the huge monster and jumped onto his back, wrapping his arms around that big neck of his. The Hulk snarled and reached behind him, which made Buffy let go of his arm.
Spike dropped down before the massive emerald mitts found their way to rip him apart. Buffy and Spike then took the chance to strike, clubbing at the back of the Hulk's knees.
Which didn't even make him raise an eyebrow. The Hulk turned and snarled at Spike, advancing at him.
Buffy drove a hard punch into the Hulk's abdomen. Xander's earlier prediction, while somewhat sarcastic at first, seemed almost prophetic. Buffy clutched her hand tightly as she felt it bounce off the steel-hard skin of the Engine of Destruction.
Spike raised his hands, "Okay, mate, look, it's me, white hair? C'mon, Limey, I'm yer mate, innit I? And mates don't hurt each other, right?"
The Hulk snarled wildly and clutched Spike by the chest. "Okay, maybe they do in fun."
"Why are you doing this?" Buffy asked. She didn't want to risk him killing Spike, strange as it is. "What did we do to make you so angry?"
"You attack Hulk! Hulk try and smash those who hurt Betty!"
"You get in Hulk's way!"
"If we let you do this, you'll destroy the world, Hulk. There's something inside you. I can't explain it, but I know there's someone good in you. Someone who doesn't want to see the world destroyed."
"Hulk not care about the world! World tried to hurt Hulk! Hulk only cares about Betty!"
"Hulk, please" Buffy pleaded, "Don't do this. If you do this, you'll not only destroy the world, but you'll destroy yourself, too. Is that what you want?"
Hulk grunted and said, "Hulk not care, Betty all that matters."
"Then please try to think. Is this what she would want? Is this what she would want you to do?"
Hulk paused, his hands on the lid, ready to rip it open at a moments notice, then the First appeared the the Hulk as Betty and said, "Yes, Hulk. Please, do it...save me from Hell...save me from the demons, Hulk, only you can do it!"
The Hulk growled, confused. He hated thinking, and he hated it when puny humans talk to him, twisting their words into lies, but he couldn't help it. Somewhere within him told him that he was being tricked, that the little girl was telling the truth. Snarling, the Hulk whirled and prowled through the walls, wanting escape, wanting to get away from all the talking, all the confusion. He drilled through the ground, and with a final punch that let sunlight hit his emerald face, the Hulk lept away, away from Sunnydale, away from it all.
Spike scurried away from the sunlight as the debris tumbled to the ground. He ran away screaming, "Don't shine it there! Anywhere but there! Specialy not me hair! Don't shine it there!"
Buffy sighed in relief, as she watched Spike scattering into the shadows. It's over. Whatever just happened. It was over. She followed Spike into the shadows, "Are you all right?"
"I get clobbered, put through two walls, nearly put on the fried menu at a chicken place and ranting like a left-wing radical to boot! I'm hunky bloody dory!"
Back at the Summers' house, after the Slayer had made her way home, she filled in the group on the transpiring action. Xander, as Buffy stated, did so not like what she had to say.
"Damn, now I gotta work overtime," Xander groaned, "We were almost done there. I really hate monsters, especially ones who ruined construction jobs."
Buffy had to smile at Xander's whining. "Well, the main thing, Xand, we saved the world. Though truthfully, I don't know what just happened, but we did it."
Bruce Banner awoke in the desert ten miles away from Sunnydale. He held his head and rolled over onto his stomach.
"I'm okay, just let me get my bearings, steady myself, then throw up."
The First appeared in Betty's form."You think this is over, Bruce?" she said in a venomous tone. "It isn't over by a long shot." Bruce glared up at "Betty." "I'd like to think otherwise."
"I know you now, I know your methods, I know your tricks. Most importantly, HE knows.
"Nobody comes into my mind without me learning a thing or two about them. It's the perk of there being thousands of different variations of me. We all kind of see the same thing. Different mindset, same pair of peepers."
"Betty" smiled humorlessly, "This was only one plan, Brucie. The next one is a doozy."
Bruce sniffed. "That's nice. I'd appreciate it if you include me out."
"Betty" laughed out loud. "this isn't a victory, Bruce. You might win, but I know one or two things about you, too. Including the fact that when this is all over." "she" gestured around their surroundings, "You will be, as before, alone. Always alone. Always at war with what's within you. That's your fate, Bruce Banner. To live alone, and to die alone." She laughed, and faded into nothing.
"Tell me something I don't know." Banner said, walking into the desert.
The End
Buffy ran down the maze, in the basement, knowing all too well the consequences if she was too late. The Hulk was a creature of destruction who needed to be stopped before he broke the lid that held the Hellmouth closed.
Buffy nearly tripped over a piece of debris, before she realized that the debris was groaning, groaning an awful like Spike.
She knew she should keep running, but she couldn't leave Spike trapped. Besides, she needed the help, for all the good it did against a creature like the Hulk. Even Glory didn't gave her this much trouble.
She got to work, pulling the debris and wood, careful not to impale the wooden pieces into Spike in her hurry to get him out.
"Spike!" She saw the lunatic vampire lying there, groaning.
"S-Slayer? Wha' happened?"
"Big green monster passin' by?" Buffy asked.
Spike sat up, holding his head in his hands, "Yeah, passing through the floor first, then after getting too close, I did some passin through those walls over there. Limey's out of his mind, he is."
Buffy grabbed an arm, and hauled Spike up. "Come on. I need your help."
Spike nodded, "Yes. Help the girl. That's what I'll do, I will. Lead the way, luv."
Buffy and Spike ran down the mazes, "I need your help, Spike. Do you know where the Hulk went?"
"The Hulk? Oi! Limey! Yeah. Had a chat with someone I couldn't see. Though I think I might be going wacky, coz I saw the big green transformin' into a human. Scrawny one, he was, too."
Buffy shook her head, dismissing that as one of his delusions. She's been worried about Spike lately. Something happened to him, that's for certain. She'd find out what that was when she had the time.
Meanwhile, the Hulk was snarling and roaring, as he pounded on the lid, but it still held in place.
"Aaaah... my dear Bruce...." The First smiled cruelly as it took on the form of General Thaddeus Ross.
The Hulk didn't seem to notice him, as his features curled in further in rage.
"ROSS!" Hulk screamed, marching ever forward, not letting piddly things like doorways and walls stop him.
The Hulk has always hated Ross. He never understood why Ross always hunted and hounded him, with guns, tanks, and planes.
"ROSS! Ross always hate Hulk, hunt and shoot Hulk with guns and tanks...Hulk smash them, now smash YOU!"
The Hulk's rage increased with every passing second, as did his strength, and a crack was starting to show on the doorway.
Buffy and Spike were getting close, real close, because the pounding was getting louder.
"So, Slayer, how do you want to play this? Limey ain't exactly peaceful." Spike asked, as he looked around.
"We have to stop him from opening the Hellmouth."
Spike raised an eyebrow at Buffy, "Ain't easy as you make it sound, luv. Big boy makes Glory look like Shirley Temple."
Buffy stared at him quizzically, he said, "shirley temple?" he began to dance and sings, "On the good ship, lollipop...this isn't a bloody rant!"
Buffy shook her head. She didn't have time for this, so she promptly bitchslapped Spike in the face, "Get a grip, Spike! I don't know what the hell gotten into you, but right now, we don't have time to psychoanalyze you."
"I'd right spend time thinking about what I'd do for a Klondike Bar and this isn't it."
Buffy dragged Spike by the collar, "I need your demon, Spike. I'm thinkin' the Hulk is being used to open the Hellmouth. I need you to lead me to the hole, since, you're, well, a demon, and the Hellmouth draws plenty'a demons."
"alright alright! I'll lead the bloody way" Spike said, guiding Buffy through the Hulk's destructive wake, closing in quickly.
Meanwhile the First, now in the form of Talbot, smiled, cruelly, at the Hulk's work, then tilted its head, not looking at anything in particular. "Well, well, the Slayer and her pet vampire appears to be getting closer. Perhaps a couple of vampires should amuse them till we're done."
Vampires, lackeys of the First, arrived in front of the Slayer and companion, barring the way. "This area's closed off to those with pulses!"
Spike then interjects, "Oh, that means only I can enter."
"And souls!"
"Oh, bloody hell." Buffy and Spike got into fighting stances as the vampires came at them. Buffy kicked and punched, along with Spike, who let his vamp face out for a spell, "Now, this I missed! A good fight! Come on, mates! The Big Bad's waitin'!"
Spike caught one punch, ducked another, kicking a vamp away. He bent the fist back, then coiled the arm underneath, snapping it. Afterwards, he snapped the vamp's neck. Buffy kicked a long wooden sliver and drove it deep into one vamp, dusting him, then another, dusting him.
Spike found a long wooden stick. He broke the end of it into something sharp and took out the vamp lunging from behind Buffy. "Buffy! Look out!" He threw the staff and it hit him in the chest, and he exploded into dust. Buffy looked back at Spike with a grateful look. Spike nodded, "Go. I'll take care of these blokes."
Buffy did so, noticing the sounds of the growls were straight ahead.
Spike took one last at the form of his Slayer, then went back to the vamps, "Who wants a shot at ol' Spike?" He smirks in challenge. Meanwhile Buffy stopped in her tracks as she saw the Hulk, who was really huge. She didn't know what she can do against him, but maybe she should try another strategry. "Hulk, stop! You don't know what you're doing!"
Hulk looked down at the girl, Crossbow girl as he "affectionately" called her, and swatted her away with his pinky finger. The blonde figure slammed hard against the far wall.
Buffy shook her head, "Okay, tryin' that again." she stood up, "Why are you doing this? I saw the kind of...person you are. You don't want to hurt anybody."
Hulk roared, swinging wildly, reaching his destination, a metallic covering with a weird goat-like face and stars on the lid. Buffy tried to pull Hulk's arm back, but as he swung it leisurely forward and back, the Slayer couldn't help but be dragged.
Spike ran into the room. He saw Buffy hangin' onto that big arm with her dear life. He could see that he was about to hit that doorway with his fist, which was attracted to the arm Buffy was hanging on. "Oh, bloody hell." He ran at the huge monster and jumped onto his back, wrapping his arms around that big neck of his. The Hulk snarled and reached behind him, which made Buffy let go of his arm.
Spike dropped down before the massive emerald mitts found their way to rip him apart. Buffy and Spike then took the chance to strike, clubbing at the back of the Hulk's knees.
Which didn't even make him raise an eyebrow. The Hulk turned and snarled at Spike, advancing at him.
Buffy drove a hard punch into the Hulk's abdomen. Xander's earlier prediction, while somewhat sarcastic at first, seemed almost prophetic. Buffy clutched her hand tightly as she felt it bounce off the steel-hard skin of the Engine of Destruction.
Spike raised his hands, "Okay, mate, look, it's me, white hair? C'mon, Limey, I'm yer mate, innit I? And mates don't hurt each other, right?"
The Hulk snarled wildly and clutched Spike by the chest. "Okay, maybe they do in fun."
"Why are you doing this?" Buffy asked. She didn't want to risk him killing Spike, strange as it is. "What did we do to make you so angry?"
"You attack Hulk! Hulk try and smash those who hurt Betty!"
"You get in Hulk's way!"
"If we let you do this, you'll destroy the world, Hulk. There's something inside you. I can't explain it, but I know there's someone good in you. Someone who doesn't want to see the world destroyed."
"Hulk not care about the world! World tried to hurt Hulk! Hulk only cares about Betty!"
"Hulk, please" Buffy pleaded, "Don't do this. If you do this, you'll not only destroy the world, but you'll destroy yourself, too. Is that what you want?"
Hulk grunted and said, "Hulk not care, Betty all that matters."
"Then please try to think. Is this what she would want? Is this what she would want you to do?"
Hulk paused, his hands on the lid, ready to rip it open at a moments notice, then the First appeared the the Hulk as Betty and said, "Yes, Hulk. Please, do it...save me from Hell...save me from the demons, Hulk, only you can do it!"
The Hulk growled, confused. He hated thinking, and he hated it when puny humans talk to him, twisting their words into lies, but he couldn't help it. Somewhere within him told him that he was being tricked, that the little girl was telling the truth. Snarling, the Hulk whirled and prowled through the walls, wanting escape, wanting to get away from all the talking, all the confusion. He drilled through the ground, and with a final punch that let sunlight hit his emerald face, the Hulk lept away, away from Sunnydale, away from it all.
Spike scurried away from the sunlight as the debris tumbled to the ground. He ran away screaming, "Don't shine it there! Anywhere but there! Specialy not me hair! Don't shine it there!"
Buffy sighed in relief, as she watched Spike scattering into the shadows. It's over. Whatever just happened. It was over. She followed Spike into the shadows, "Are you all right?"
"I get clobbered, put through two walls, nearly put on the fried menu at a chicken place and ranting like a left-wing radical to boot! I'm hunky bloody dory!"
Back at the Summers' house, after the Slayer had made her way home, she filled in the group on the transpiring action. Xander, as Buffy stated, did so not like what she had to say.
"Damn, now I gotta work overtime," Xander groaned, "We were almost done there. I really hate monsters, especially ones who ruined construction jobs."
Buffy had to smile at Xander's whining. "Well, the main thing, Xand, we saved the world. Though truthfully, I don't know what just happened, but we did it."
Bruce Banner awoke in the desert ten miles away from Sunnydale. He held his head and rolled over onto his stomach.
"I'm okay, just let me get my bearings, steady myself, then throw up."
The First appeared in Betty's form."You think this is over, Bruce?" she said in a venomous tone. "It isn't over by a long shot." Bruce glared up at "Betty." "I'd like to think otherwise."
"I know you now, I know your methods, I know your tricks. Most importantly, HE knows.
"Nobody comes into my mind without me learning a thing or two about them. It's the perk of there being thousands of different variations of me. We all kind of see the same thing. Different mindset, same pair of peepers."
"Betty" smiled humorlessly, "This was only one plan, Brucie. The next one is a doozy."
Bruce sniffed. "That's nice. I'd appreciate it if you include me out."
"Betty" laughed out loud. "this isn't a victory, Bruce. You might win, but I know one or two things about you, too. Including the fact that when this is all over." "she" gestured around their surroundings, "You will be, as before, alone. Always alone. Always at war with what's within you. That's your fate, Bruce Banner. To live alone, and to die alone." She laughed, and faded into nothing.
"Tell me something I don't know." Banner said, walking into the desert.
The End