Voices Inside [for Bruce]

[soulthatwanders]

It was a pretty sorry state of affairs when Wanda's only reaction to waking up in the jungle in the middle of the night was oh god, not again. Her brief (and sometimes not-so-brief, lately she'd been missing hours a day) spells of lost time had only come during the night a few times that she knew of, but it was always suprememly disorienting, the sensation of waking up on unfamiliar ground carrying with it a certain horror movie vibe. Appropriate, maybe, given what day it probably was by now, but all the more worrying with the island on alert for walking nightmares. Anything could be out there with her, and she didn't have to be a worrier to be unsettled by that fact.

Fortunately, even at night, she was pretty sure she recognized where she was, a small stand of trees not far at all from Bruce's place. A long distance to sleepwalk, to be sure, but at least it gave her an out that didn't involve a long trudge back to civilization wearing a... bathing suit?

Huh. Apparently she'd changed into her uniform, which had been gathering dust at the bottom of a shelf for years now. That was a new development.

"Bruce?" she called, knocking lightly once she made it to his hut in the middle of nowhere. "You up in there?" He kept odd hours at the best of times, and since she had a feeling that most of the island wouldn't be having great nights, she was pretty much anticipating a quick response.

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[soulthatwanders]

At first, Wanda was just confused. Why did she hurt so much? She couldn't remember the last time the pain was this bad, not since the early days, not since-

Finally, she managed to cut through the fog and realize what was happening, and then came the panic, grabbing her and rising fast the instant she let it in. She tried to get up, a child's instinct to run, but her muscles, her bones all felt like they were on fire, and she knew there was nowhere to go. This was a threat from without, yes, but he was already there, already a part of her. He had been for months, now, thanks to the island, and she'd just been too stupid, too willfully blind to let herself see that and now it was too late.

Looking back, she didn't quite understand her initial reaction, a strange dismay to see that it was still Bruce in there, that he was hanging on. Not until she realized what exactly it was that she was so afraid of.

"Kill me," she said, her voice high and breathless. She knew she was already slipping away, knew she wouldn't even notice when it happened, and she couldn't let herself just end that way, not again. "Please."

[bannered]

It's harder for him to focus on what she's saying, what's happening - his vision blurs in and out of focus, his ability to hear her words in a similar state of flux. It's the transformation and his struggle to resist it, the fight taking a toll on his body in more ways than just the obvious.

He can't do both. He can't reach her and stop the transformation altogether. He doesn't have the power to control his forward movement and halt the spread of green pigmenting his limbs, stop the growth of muscle as bones shift and grow to accommodate a bigger frame.

He staggers forward and isn't aware of falling until he tastes dirt, reaching out to her with straining, trembling, growing greenish fingertips.

[soulthatwanders]

His approach and slow transformation was just enough to hold her attention, no matter how hard the pain kept trying to pull it away. She slumped lower, breath coming in shallow gasps now, and the only thought running through her head was 'too late, too late', over and over like a mantra. Any other time and her heart would be breaking for him, because she knew how much he'd dreaded this and she cared about him so damn much, but there was no room for it over her fear of the Beast and from there, it was simple, desperate instinct to reach out and grab Bruce's hand. Self-preservation was entirely out the window at this point, after all, as she didn't have much of a self left. There was a fight going on inside her skin, but she wasn't a part of it anymore, she was just an outside observer waiting to be taken care of by forces that had always been outside of her control.

[bannered]

Later, he might reflect on this moment and consider the fact that the Hulk would have never had the place of mind to even reach out for anything resembling gentle contact - the one exception to that in the past had been Betty, and even then it hadn't been a scene he'd remembered himself, only heard about later.

It'll be proof that he's still retained enough of his own control to think of something other than the transformation when it all finally leaves him and he starts slipping towards the darkness, closing his eyes in resolute acceptance.

Every breath is a deep rumble in the Hulk's chest when he lifts his head, almost like a dog scenting the air. There's a pause, a brief jerk of hesitation, and he pulls his hand away before reaching out to nudge at the crumpled frame on the ground in front of him.

[soulthatwanders]

When the shift occurred, it was a subtle thing, quiet and insidious. The focus went out of her eyes for the briefest of moments and returned as perfect clarity when she looked at the looming monster. One moment, Wanda was there, and the next, she was simply gone, replaced with something else. Something foreign. Something very, very old.

"Yes," it said, voice pitched unnaturally low but still undeniably hers as it took in the new surroundings, so far removed from its own realms of men and gods. "Yes, this will do." And finally, after so many months of waiting in shadows and half-remembered thoughts, it began the transformation to its natural state. No matter the world, it would tremble before the might of the Great Beasts before the night was through.

[bannered]

Something has shifted. Something has changed. The Hulk knows it, recognizes it even if he doesn't quite comprehend what it could possibly all mean, but there is nothing familiar about the being in front of him now, and he snarls, lips pulling back to reveal white teeth.

It's a warning sound, and it will likely be the only one this - thing ever gets.

[soulthatwanders]

The Great Beast growled, a low, primal sound as muscle rippled and flowed like water, growing and shifting. Skin and clothing were replaced by hide and fur as would befit a being bound normally to colder climes, and human features twisted into something different, something wrong, just a step beyond animal to become almost alien. It didn't deign to acknowledge the feral creature before him (her, came the immediate reminder, as she now occupied the form of the mortal godling, the now-warped offspring off the hated Nelvanna) until she'd attained her full height above the monster, and when she did, there was nothing but derision in the deep, ancient horror of a voice.

"Either stand down or be the first of many to fall before Tanaraq. The choice is thine."