Hulk by Peter David (e reader manga TXT) 📕

your help. I need to . . .” She paused. It was the most difficult thing she’d ever said, and she was saying it as much to herself as to him. “I need to trust you.”

“Where are you?” said Ross.

She pressed the phone more tightly against her ear. “It’s not Bruce’s fault. You have to believe me. His father, he tried to kill me and Bruce. . . .”

Bruce stirred slightly and Betty paused, watching him.

“Yes? Betty? Betty?” said Ross.

“We’re at the cabin,” she said abruptly. “We’re not going anywhere. Take your time. Make preparations. And Dad, whatever you do . . .”

“Yes?”

“Don’t piss him off.”

betrayal or salvation?

The rain from the night before had had a cleansing effect on the forest. Come the morning sun, it would have been hard to believe that there had been any sort of altercation at all. The downpour had washed away the blood and gore that had been splattered about, including the dissolved corpses of the killer dogs. The fallen tree was there, but trees fall all the time. As for the bashed-in car, well, there wasn’t much to be done about that, really.

Bruce was sitting up on the couch, a blanket wrapped around him since he had no clothes there to change into. He was still having trouble processing all that had happened. So much of it was like a dream, and not just the over-the-top changing into a monster aspects of it. He remembered the entire event in the same manner that one does a dream, with quick impressions here or sense memories there. The only difference was that in a dream, you’re entirely within your own head and limited to whatever visual elements you can recollect. But here, Betty had witnessed it, and she had even spoken with Bruce’s lunatic father, who purported to be behind at least some aspect of what had occurred. So she was able to help him piece it all together.

She sat in a chair opposite him, hands resting in her lap. She was taking all of this far better than he would have been able to, if the circumstances had, somehow, been reversed. She smiled at him, spoke to him gently, did nothing to get him the least bit worked up. A certain amount of that came from pure self-preservation, sure enough. It definitely wasn’t in her best interests to get him worked up. The fortunate thing, though, was that Betty was concerned about Bruce, about what had happened to him, and what most likely would happen to him if the situation were allowed to continue unchecked.

Betty was in his court, though. She was one hundred percent on his side, and as long as that was the case, Bruce couldn’t envision any scenario they couldn’t overcome, any conundrum so difficult that they wouldn’t be able to solve it.

The morning sun created a small corona around her hair. She appeared almost angelic as, with a beatific face, she went over everything that had happened, trying to connect the dots of the puzzle in order to bring it into clearer focus.

“Your anger,” she was saying, “it must trigger some kind of signal, and if the DNA strands break open that quickly there must be a tremendous release of energy.”

“Which I somehow absorb,” said Bruce thoughtfully.

“And transform. Like you did with the gamma rays. It’s just . . . inside of you.” Then she paused, trying to figure out the answer to her next question even before she voiced it. “But then . . . what stops it?” she asked.

“Yeah, what stops it from going on and on, into some kind of chain reaction?” he wondered aloud. “Maybe the next time, it’ll just keep going.”

The notion caused Betty to shudder. Bruce couldn’t blame her, really. The prospect of becoming . . . what? King Hulk, stomping through town, knocking over buildings and threatening airplanes while clutching a screaming beauty in his oversize hand. What a wonderful mental image to carry. Better that he should explode, like Freddie.

He paused. There was something else he wanted to say, but it was a difficult thing for him to admit. He had no idea how she would react, and his instinct was to keep it to himself. But he was trying to be honest with Betty, to let her know everything that was going through his mind. If he stinted on that now, she would know. He didn’t know how she’d know, but she would.

And the bottom line was she wanted to help him. She cared about him, loved him. How could she possibly aid him if he kept things from her?

He leaned forward, gesturing for her to do likewise. She hesitated a moment, and then did so. He spoke in a low voice, like a wizard about to utter a chant. “You know what scares me the most? When it happens, when it comes over me, when I totally lose control—” They locked gazes, and he reached deep into the truth of his soul and admitted it to her, and to himself. “—I like it.”

There was a moment of silence. Clearly Betty had no idea how to react, and that was understandable. Bruce was exploring new territory himself. There was no reason that Betty shouldn’t be daunted by the prospect. Indeed, the fact that she’d taken as much as she had in stride was nothing short of . . .

At that moment, Bruce heard a noise outside. It sounded like a garbage can being knocked over. Perhaps a raccoon was foraging around.

He gestured for Betty to remain exactly where she was. She watched him with limpid eyes as he went to the window to ascertain just what it was that was rooting around outside. He wasn’t expecting to do anything more than shout loudly in order to frighten off some creature foraging, looking for a snack.

So it was that when he leaned out the window, he was caught unawares by a soft pop of air and a