*****Author's note*****
Hey everyone!!! Thank you so much for 400+ reads! I'm stunned! To celebrate here's another chapter for ya! Don't forget to vote/comment feedback/tell all your friends!
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I'm blinded by the explosion, bright lights flashing everywhere I look. Everything is kind of spinning but I can feel the floor beneath me. I try to get up but my legs won't move. Something is holding me down. Feels like half the airship. I shake my head a little to clear my vision but it just makes me really dizzy. The world is spinning when I hear someone groan. I slowly turn my head and dimly make out a writhing figure on the floor near me.
The figure groans again and this time I recognize him. It's Bruce. Except the groan isn't quite Bruce. It's something else but my brain can't quite pinpoint exactly what I'm trying to remember. Something important. Something to do with Bruce. Bruce, with his warm brown eyes. His soft voice. His extreme sarcasm when he makes fun of-
Crap.
My head clears suddenly as I realize what's happening. I turn back to him but he just seems to be worse.
"Bruce?" I whisper, hoping to get through his panic. "We're gonna be okay. I'm gonna get you out of this. On my life, you will walk away and never-"
"ON YOUR LIFE?"
That is not Bruce. That is Hulk. I gulp and frantically pull at the bar pinning my legs. It's really heavy but I can budge it a little. Panic and adrenaline help a lot too. I hear a thud and whirl back around to see Bruce almost completely green. I know what comes next but I've only seen it on tape, never in person. I didn't bargain on feeling sad though. I thought for sure I'd be scared if I ever experienced this, but sad is definitely not what I expected.
Yet when he turned around and we locked eyes, all I could feel was gut-wrenching sadness. His eyes. They're still Bruce. His body may be huge and green but his eyes are still the warm brown I like so much. And they're screaming "I'm sorry". I want to cry but I can't. I don't have time.
The Hulk screams and Bruce lets go. He grows at least four more feet and his shirt rips off. I can feel the panic rising in my throat and I stop wasting time. The Hulk is here and I'm going to die if I don't get out soon. I blast the large pipe off my legs with my magic and stand up. Hulk turns around. His eyes are black now. Crap, he sees me right away. I have only one option. Run.
I turn and bolt, running down and around through all the different pipes and stairs I can find. We must be down in one of the maintenance levels because it isn't sleek and polished like the other decks. Pipes stick out everywhere, you can see through the stairs, and everything is labeled with warnings of various kinds: "Do Not Touch" or "Highly Flammable". I can hear Hulk crashing through everything behind me. He doesn't slow down to turn corners, just blasting through everything does the trick for him.
I turn another corner and I know I'm trapped. There's only one way to go. I have to run as fast as I can down a straight and narrow corridor. There are no turns, no alcoves to hide in. I'm screwed. The Hulk is definitely faster than me. There's no time to think, I just have to go for it. I turn on the speed, adrenaline and my power flowing through me. It feels like I'm gonna make it, I can almost feel the freedom. Just a few more feet!
Hulk slams his fist into my side just as I run out the end of the corridor. I fly through the air and hit a bunch of hard, steel boxes. My head is spinning worse now and my side feels crunched, like a car after a really bad accident. I can't get my eyes to open, but I know keeping them screwed shut isn't an option. I wrench my eyelids apart just as a small blur blasts into Hulk from the side. I smile grimly. There's only one person on this crazy heli-carrier that can take on the Hulk and maybe win.
Thor.
