Marvel-ous Ninjutsu

00203. Meeting Betty.

It took almost two weeks before Ezekiel could have a conversation with Banner, since every time he saw Ezekiel he hulked out. Was it Ezekiel’s fault? Partly, but that was only because he would goad the man into anger after the first week. Near the end of the second week Banner could finally control himself even with Ezekiel trying to anger the man as he happily said, “It's definitely some kind of genetic flaw that makes all you geniuses, idiots when it comes to common sense.”

Banner glared hatefully at Ezekiel who smiled back and said, “I don't see why you're so upset. I just helped you gain a little bit of control over your new power.”

“Power? This is a curse, I never wanted something like this!” Banner said as his eyes flashed green for a second.

Ezekiel gave Banner a flat look as he said, “Says the guy who injected himself with an untested super soldier serum before blasting himself with radiation.”

Banner's eyes flashed green again for a moment as he said, “This is all your fault.”

“My fault? I warned you and you didn't listen, so don't try and blame this on me.” Ezekiel said with narrowed eyes.

“You didn't tell me I would turn into whatever this is!?!” Banner said with a raised tone as his eyes flickered green a few times before he took a deep calming breath.

“You didn't ask… Besides, would you have even believed me if I told you what would happen?”

Banner took a couple more deep breaths before he said, “No, I wouldn't have.”

Ezekiel nodded as he said, “Exactly. So stop blaming me for problems you created.”

Banner frowned as he looked at the floor before he said, “I need to contact Betty, she’s probably worried about me.”

“That's an understatement.”

Banner's head whipped up to look at Ezekiel as he asked, “What do you mean?”

“It’s been almost two weeks since the explosion, Betty and the rest of the world think you're dead.” Ezekiel said as he pulled up his tablet and started to type on it.

“Two weeks?” Banner asked before he froze and whispered in confusion, “Dead…”

Banner’s eyes widened before he grabbed Ezekiel’s shoulder as he said with an urgent tone of voice, “I need to talk to Betty now! She needs to know I am alive!”

“Settle down doc, I am working on it. You just keep yourself calm, so Hulk doesn't come back out and we waste another day.” Ezekiel said as he typed on his tablet some more.

Banner nodded but he was still agitated as he settled back on the couch and took calming breaths. After a few minutes Ezekiel created a portal in the middle of the living room and out of it stepped someone in anbu gear carrying Betty in their arms. Banner's eyes went wide and flickered green as he stood up and asked in a raised tone, “What did you do to her?”

“Settle down doc, she just passed out from crying too much. She’s be devastated thinking you were dead.” Ezekiel said while the person holding Betty gently placed her down on the couch and disappeared.

Ezekiel stood up himself and said, “I’ll leave you both alone for now, but keep calm or the Hulk will come out. He won’t hurt Betty, but it will be more time wasted and I have other things I need to do.”

Banner nodded as he moved next to Betty and gently woke her up. Ezekiel watched for only a moment before he created another portal and disappeared to go meet with Tao and Agatha. They were at the magic school on Genosha in the hidden underground lab drinking tea when Ezekiel arrived. Tao placed her cup down first as she asked, “Banner finally kept his anger in check?”

“Yeah, we should be good to do the next part in a few days.” Ezekiel said as he took a seat next to them.

“You really think he will accept the offer?” Agatha asked as she placed her phone down to focus on Ezekiel.

“I don’t see why he wouldn't, he literally called it a curse a little while ago and the Hulk hasn’t even done anything bad… The only question is will it work?” Ezekiel asked as he turned to Tao.

“With the use of the soul stone it shouldn’t be an issue. While Banner and Hulk share the same body, after studying them both I’ve determined your plan to split them apart will work. We just need to make some special arrays and set up the soul stone so we can split Banner’s soul in half.”

“Sounds good…” Ezekiel said before his tablet started to beep. Ezekiel picked it up before he let out a sigh and said, “I gotta go.”

“What happened? Do you need help?” Tao asked as Agatha also glanced at him with concern.

Ezekiel shook his head as he stood up and said, “No, Banner just Hulked out again. It should be fine… I think”

Ezekiel quickly rushed to the island transportation hub before he portaled back to the island. As he stepped out of the portal a woman said, “It’s okay Bruce, whatever happened, we can get through it together.”

“Me no Bruce! Me Hulk!” The Hulk said in an angry tone as he glared down at Betty.

Before Betty could speak Ezekiel said, “Calm down Hulk.”

Both Betty and Hulk turned to look at Ezekiel before Hulk pointed at Betty and said, “She call Hulk, Bruce! Hulk not puny Banner! Hulk is Hulk!”

“I know that, but she doesn’t. Now tell her you’re sorry for raising your voice and she will apologize for calling you Bruce.” Ezekiel said as he placed his hands on his waist and stared up directly at the Hulk’s eyes.

Betty looked like she wanted to say something but when she looked at Ezekiel who caught her eyes he shook his head. After a few moments of awkward silence the Hulk finally said, “Hulk sorry. Hulk no mean yell.”

Betty glanced between Ezekiel and Hulk before she reluctantly said, “I’m sorry for calling you Bruce…”

Ezekiel smiled as he said, “Good job Hulk, I think you deserve a reward.”

The Hulk’s eye lit up as Ezekiel pulled out a three gallon tub of ice cream and handed it to the Hulk before he said, “Make sure you use a spoon this time.”

Hulk nodded and went over to the kitchen where he pulled out an extra large spoon while Ezekiel motioned for Betty to follow him outside. As they walked out of the house the TV turned out and started playing something that made the Hulk laugh. Once outside Ezekiel turned to Betty and said, “Sorry about that Miss. Ross. The Hulk and Burce are like oil and water right now. And I don't see that changing anytime soon, even though they share the same body.”

Betty nodded slowly before she asked in concern, “What happened to Bruce?”

“Your dad wanted results and threatened to remove funding and separate you two if Banner didn't show any. So he attempted the experiment on himself and well… You just saw the results.”

Betty frowned and thought over Ezekiel’s words for a few moments before she said, “My father wouldn't do that… He knows how much I care for Bruce.”

Ezekiel pulled out his tablet and quickly found what he was looking for before he handed it to Betty as he said, “Watch this.”

Betty took the tablet and pushed play on the video to see Bruce in her father's office. General Ross basically browbeat Banner the entire time and the longer the video played the worse Betty looked. She shifted from anger, shame, regret and back to anger as Ross told Banner he had a week to show results or he would never see Betty again. Once the video finally finished Betty stiffly handed the tablet back to Ezekiel with a devastated look on her face.

Ezekiel quietly left Betty so she could process her feelings and walked back inside before he took a seat next to Hulk who was watching classic cartoons. As Hulk ate ice cream and laughed, he would sometimes nudge Ezekiel with his elbow as he pointed at the screen with his spoon. He was mostly pointing out things he found funny, that he thought Ezekiel missed because he was working on his tablet.

Ezekiel didn't pay attention to the time but sometime after Hulk finished his ice cream, Betty came back inside. She ended up sitting on one of the large lazyboy like chairs before she turned to Ezekiel and asked, “Who are you exactly and where are we anyway?”

“I'm Ezekiel and you are currently on an unnamed island, hidden from the rest of the world by magic.” Ezekiel said as he looked up from his tablet.

Betty frowned as she asked with a hint of skepticism, “Magic?”

Hulk switched his focus from the TV as he nodded and said, “Ezekiel do magic with red hair lady.”

“Red haired lady?” Betty asked in confusion.

Ezekiel waved it off as he said, “My master, who taught me the mystic arts. She came by to meet Hulk.”

“I see…” Betty said but didn't sound very convinced.

Ezekiel went back to his tablet as Hulk focused back on the TV as the group fell into silence as Betty wasn't sure what to do. After another cartoon finished Betty asked, “When will I be able to talk with Bruce again?”

Hulk growled slightly at the comment but Betty was focused on Ezekiel when she asked the question so he snorted as he turned back to the TV. Ezekiel glanced up at Hulk with a helpless shrug as he said, “Probably tomorrow unless Hulk wants to be nice and help Banner out, by giving him back control.”

“Puny Banner stupid. Hulk no help.” Hulk said with a huff.

“Looks like you have to wait until tomorrow. Do you wanna stay here or head back home?”

“I'd like to stay here if that's okay.” Betty said cautiously as she looked between Hulk and Ezekiel.

Ezekiel didn't care either way, but it was Hulk's temporary home so when he didn't respond Ezekiel elbowed him in the side. Hulk turned to look at Ezekiel who pointed at Betty and said, “She asked if she could stay here, you're supposed to answer.”

Hulk glanced at Betty for a moment before he turned back to the TV and said, “You stay, but no talk about puny Banner.”

Betty nodded hesitantly as she said, “Okay.”

A few minutes later Ezekiel finished on his tablet before he stood up and asked Betty, “You wanna take a walk for a bit?”

Betty glanced at the TV and Hulk for a moment before she stood up and said, “Sure.”

After they got outside and walked down towards the beach Ezekiel asked, “What happened early anyways? I've been helping Banner get his anger under control so he could talk with you, but he Hulked out again.”

Betty let out a sigh before she said, “We were talking about my dad and him rushing the experiment alone.”

Ezekiel nodded in understanding before he said, “Oh, okay. That makes a lot of sense.”

“I still can’t believe what happened… I hope we can figure out a cure.” Betty said as she glanced out over the sandy beach and water that went to the horizon.

“Unfortunately there's no cure.”

Betty turned to look at Ezekiel as asked, “No cure? How do you even know that, when we haven't even tried?”

“The same way I knew Bruce was going to perform the experiment alone. I can see the future.” Ezekiel said as he watched the water lap against the beach for a few moments.

Betty narrowed her eyes as she asked, “You knew Bruce was going to try the experiment?”

“Yup. I even warned him not to do it, but he was too stubborn to listen.” Ezekiel said as he slightly shook his head.

“Why didn’t you just stop him? Almost the entire school blew up and people could have died…”

Ezekiel smirked as he asked, “And yet not a single person did, I wonder why that is?”

After a few moments Betty's eyes widened slightly as she asked, “You saved everyone?”

Ezekiel nodded as he said, “I knew no matter what I did, Banner would do the experiment one way or another. So I did what I could to help control it and keep people safe.”

Betty frowned slightly again before she asked, “Say I believe you about being able to see the future and it's absolutely correct… Is there really no way to help cure Bruce?”

“I potentially have a way, but it would depend on if Banner wants to do it. Otherwise it will take him years to come to terms with Hulk and accept that they are basically the same person.”

“What solution did you come up with?” Betty asked with interest.

“I don’t feel like explaining it twice, so I’ll tell you and Banner at the same time tomorrow.”