Commission for  paladin-scholfield! This one features the Hulk going through a new stage of his evolution.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I understand that some changes here may not match up with the original Bruce Banner. I, myself, only really know him from the Marvel movies and some of the TV shows, I'm not much of a comic book reader. (Aside from Planet Hulk) Any changes to Bruce's typical character were requested for this story by the commissioner.

Hulk © Marvel
Story © c'est moi

---

The Arizona Desert was rattled to the very core as an impact like an asteroid striking the earth caused a tremendous boom so loud, it could be heard for miles. In a crater the size of a large house, Apocalypse, Son of the Morning Fire, The First Mutant, lay prone. Looming over him, driving a massive green fist into his grey face, the Incredible Hulk roared with triumph; he had beaten down another enemy, the musclebound giant beating his huge chest in victory. Leaping out of the crater, Hulk staggered away, slowly shrinking now that the danger had passed. Just as he reached the shade of a towering Mesa, Bruce Banner took a deep sigh of relief; it was close, but he came out of it alive. No mortal man, nor indeed, even a group of his superhero friends and colleagues were able to step up to Apocalypse, match his strength, meet him in hand-to-hand combat.

Except the Hulk.

Incapacitated, Apocalypse was easily dispatched into SHIELD’s hands, as agents quickly swarmed over the crater to secure the renowned and feared supervillain, like ants over sugar water. Bruce Banner was looked over for injuries; thanks to the Hulk’s nearly impervious skin and rock-hard muscles, he had come out of it without a scratch.

Once his examination was complete, Bruce was let out of SHIELD custody. Tidying up and pulling on a fresh set of clothes, he sighed, looking over his lean face in the mirror.

“You did good today, big guy,” he murmured.

There was an almost childlike glee welling up inside him. “Heheh, Hulk smash!” Banner’s split personality declared happily.

“Yeah. Hulk smash.” Bruce tapped his fingers on the sink. “I’ve been thinking. Would you like to come out more?”

“Hulk smash more?” The scientist had to struggle, his body convulsing as his skin flashed green, his body quickly expanding until it nearly burst the seams of his borrowed shirt.

“No! No, not right now,” Bruce muttered. “I mean to say… I’d let you out more. We’ve been doing really good work- but the fight with Apocalypse was close. If I could just have a little more control…”

“No!” Hulk shouted emphatically. “Puny Banner not control Hulk! Banner weak!”

Bruce sighed, rolling his eyes. He should have seen this coming. “I- I know. But think about all the good we could do if-”

“No! Hulk smash. Puny Banner not smash.” Hulk was sulking now, Bruce could sense it.

“Fine. Banner not smash.” Bruce sighed as Hulk’s presence left his mind. Things had been going so well, too… but he and Hulk still had their differences to work out. The not-so jolly green giant had recently given him just enough of a hint, just enough of a view to remember the fights- the rush of adrenaline, the unmitigated strength and power coursing through his veins; it was intoxicating. But, more importantly, if Bruce could have just a little bit more control, he could use that strength to better ends- no longer just a sledge hammer, but a versatile tool with incredible power to back it up. He tried not to think on this too long; if Hulk found out, that would be the end of it. He needed to communicate with him on a deeper level…

Bruce was left pondering as he was driven back to the nearest SHIELD base, where his wife Betty was waiting for him. Feeling pensive, he took out his smartphone, where a few e-mails from academic colleagues were waiting for him. Flicking through them, he came across one. A neurobiologist associate of his from Yale was working on fascinating breakthroughs in Lucid Dreaming therapy, to help reconcile split personalities in certain strains of schizophrenia. Bruce had always been a quick read, and he smiled softly to himself; the big words and technical language would have confused and bored Hulk, so he was fairly confident he was alone, for now. Taking out a notepad, he wrote down some notes, already thinking of ways to tweak the research and procedures for his… unique situation.

By the time Bruce was alone with his wife, he had already thought up a rough sketch of a procedure, to help bring him and Hulk together. Betty, no slouch in science herself, was able to follow along with Bruce’s explanation, slowly nodding and drinking it in. Flipping back her silky, chocolate brown hair, she leaned on a counter, poring over Bruce’s notes again.

“So… what you’re suggesting would be a permanent change?” she frowned. “Bruce…” she gently caressed her husband’s cheek. “Whatever you think you have to do, it’s not worth it to lose you to the Hulk… no matter how strong or what incredible things he can do.”

“But I wouldn’t be lost,” Bruce explained, tapping his notes again. “So long as you’re monitoring the brain activity, we just need to keep a careful balance; so long as I’m asleep, my body won’t activate adrenaline. Hulk won’t have any way out, any way to take control. I can talk to him, bond with him, and then… I’d let him out, on my terms.”

Betty looked up, her captivating eyes catching Bruce’s. “Your terms?”

“We can’t keep doing this- not forever. One of us, eventually, has to win. Hulk gets to come out- permanently. But I’d be in control. Those are my terms to him, and I won’t back down.” Bruce gently grabbed Betty’s hand, interlocking fingers. “I think this is something I’ve got to do. To step up, and be a real hero. Not just some sort of… attack dog the Avengers can let out whenever things get hairy.”

Betty sighed, resting her forehead on Bruce’s chest. “I think you’re already a hero, Bruce. But… if you have to do this, and you’re sure you’ll still be the man I fell in love with, then, I’ll help you do this.” She grinned slightly, squeezing her husband tight. “Maybe I can get a little excited, even, thinking about those huge, strong arms around me…”

“Betty!” Bruce chuckled. “Don’t get too excited.”


A few months later, and the preliminary testing was complete. In a cramped cabin deep in the Canadian wilderness, Bruce and Betty were preparing themselves for the final act of their experiment. Reams of research papers were piled around a dozen computers, and the two had just finished clearing out enough space for Hulk to come out.

Bruce breathed deeply. “Okay. We’ve run the scenario dozens of time, and I’ve talked it over with the big guy.” He tapped his head, indicating the Hulk. “We’re as ready as we’ll ever be.”

“Just try to get comfortable, and relax.” Betty draped her arms over Bruce’s shoulders, kissing him for a long moment. “You’ll be fine.” She smiled. “I know it… and I love you.”

Bruce returned the kiss, exhaling. “I love you, too.” The scientist slipped out of his shirt, stripping down to a pair of purple trunks- they were a little loose, leaving Bruce clinging to the cloth to keep himself decent.

Betty stifled a giggle. “Purple never really was your color, was it?”

“Yeah, well, it goes well with green, right?” Bruce laid down on a mattress and pillow carefully placed on the floor, closing his eyes and controlling his breathing, an IV drip inserted into his arm, a steady stream of a carefully balanced concoction slowly inducing Bruce into a drugged sleep. His eyelids growing heavy, in his last waking moments, he offered up a small prayer. “God, we uh, don’t talk often, but… if not for my sake, at least for Betty’s… I really hope I’m right.”

Little did he know that Betty was also offering up a prayer as well, her hands clasped before she turned to the computer. “Lord, please watch over him.”

Bruce felt his vision returning, his eyes fluttering open, but he already knew he was still asleep. Squatting in front of him, and taking up most of the cabin, was the Hulk, the muslebound juggernaut scowling at Bruce, but he looked calm, even resigned.

“You ready?” Bruce asked.

Hulk scoffed. “Are you?”

The scientist frowned. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Hulk know how to use strength. Puny Bruce don’t.” He explained. “You still smash?”

“Of course. Just… more precisely smash.”

The green giant grunted. “Okay. Puny Bruce can take over. But if you still act puny… I maybe come back.”

“We’ll see.”

Hulk disappeared from Bruce’s view, and with a sharp breath, the scientist felt himself jolted back into the waking world.

“Bruce? Honey? Are you okay?” Betty asked, looking up from her computer.

Bruce opened his mouth to reassure his wife, but instead, he roared as a huge rush of adrenaline struck him, like he just hit the first big drop on a roller coaster. He sat bolt upright, breathing rapidly as he felt energy rush through him, reaching every part of his body. Instead of the panicked, vaguely painful transformation he was used to, fueled by rage and fear, this was a new sensation. Excitement lanced through him, hands clenching as he felt the telltale signs of his change slamming into him.

Along his arms veins bulged out, throbbing with power as his muscles began to shift and thicken. Slim forearms inflated to the size of Christmas hams as even his hands grew larger, stronger. Biceps surged outward, pushing against his torso as his chest filled out, pectorals pumping up and pushing out with each beat of his heart. His legs were growing heavier and wider, forcing his stance further apart as his feet spread across the floor, gaining size to accommodate his increasing mass. Across his back his skin was drawn taut by the muscle writhing under it, a tapestry of power unfolding as the Hulk’s telltale green spread across his body.

Bruce clenched his jaw, groaning loudly as it widened, growing stronger and thicker, a broad lantern jaw. Every breath he took seemed to cause his body to swell, barely having to glance down to watch the shelf of his chest expand, a solid plane of muscle jutting off his torso while solid bricks of abdominal muscle clenched below them. The slightest flex his fingers made his arms tense and ripple, every well-defined muscle cut like a diamond. He could watch every major muscle group move across his limbs with the slightest provocation, making him feel like a moving mountain, a force of nature. His towering form began to settle, his body still electric, doused in an afterglow. It was an odd feeling; by this point the Hulk would be in control. Now he could feel it, the raw power that came from this body, the unfettered might that filled every inch of him. His head was inches from scraping against the ceiling, and looking down at his new, magnificent form as if it was the first time, Bruce let out a low chuckle. He loved it.

Betty was left staring up at her husband, mouth agape. “Bruce…” she began breathlessly, her hand resting on her breast. The new and improved Hulk didn’t seem to hear her as he looked over his body, forcing his way out of the cabin, causing irreparable damage to the door frame. The female scientist shuddered watching him go, his gigantic back rippling as it tapered down to a pair of meaty glutes that filled out his form-fitting purple trunks. “Oh, Bruce.” Betty whispered huskily. She turned her eyes upward, offering up a prayer of thanks to God for giving her such a magnificent beast for a husband. He was bigger than he had ever been, dwarfing the old Hulk, both in height and width. Every muscle Betty ogled was swollen with power and strength, the likes of which shouldn’t be possible if she wasn’t looking at it, drinking in the sight.

She followed after, her eyes going wide as she saw Bruce reach for a towering tree. For Bruce, there was still something in the back of his head, not the roaring berserker Hulk was, but a small, elicit thrill, urging him to show off his strength. He could feel the old rush of adrenaline, but it was excitement, now, confidence shown as he swaggered towards the woods, not that his gigantic legs would allow any other gait. Gripping the tree four times his height with hands big enough to wrap around the trunk, he grunted, offering only a token effort as he pulled it out of the earth, roots and all. Chuckling, the green titan held up the tree in one hand, pumping his free arm until his bicep surged as round as the trunk itself, that pulsing mass of muscle digging against his clenched his fist. “This… this is perfect,” he murmured, his voice dropping down to a smooth baritone.

He was left admiring himself for some time before Betty waved him down, a smile plastered on her face as she looked him up and down. “Bruce… that is you, right?”

“Mostly,” he laughed deeply, his chest bouncing. “The big guy’s still here.” Bruce explained, tapping the side of his head, his bicep jostling his cheek. “I’ve never felt this great. The confidence! And, gosh…” He palmed his huge fists, tensing those mammoth arms. “I totally get why he wants to smash all the time. All this pent up energy, all this potential- I feel like I could take on the world! But… it’s still me. Just with less inhibition.” Looking down at his wife, he knelt down so he could be at eye-level with her. “How do you like the new me?”

“It’s… impressive.” Betty huffed, her heart fluttering as her eyes traversed over the huge, green expanses of muscle. “Not that I didn’t like you as you were.”

The Hulk smirked. “Shall I change back, then?”

“Don’t you dare,” Betty said sharply.

“Good, because this?” He flexed his arm, muscles surging to the size of a small hill. “Is pretty much permanent. But I think I’m not gonna mind that at all.”

“I can definitely grow used to it…” Betty said breathily. She fell into Bruce’s embrace, letting that arm big enough to envelop her wrap tight around her. Wriggling an arm free, she caressed the curve of Bruce’s bicep. He tensed it slightly, forcing his wife’s fingers apart. Without a word, Betty kissed the crest of his arm, then leaned back against his chest, able to rest comfortably in the cleft of his bulging, cliff-like pecs. She sighed contentedly. “You are just… incredible, Bruce. You’ve never been this big! I can feel the strength in this… gun doesn’t really fit, does it?” She tapped that huge, swollen arm. “Cannon?”

“Try nuclear bomb.” He leaned back, holding his wife close.

Betty was only still for a moment. With a mischievous look, she slipped out of Bruce’s grasp, and started to tug on his hand, now bigger than her chest. “C’mon, big guy.”

Bruce arched his heavy brow, but stood to his full height as he followed his wife to the shore of the lake near their cabin. The water was placid and calm, showing a near perfect reflection of the Hulk. Bruce was taken aback; the Hulk’s brutish looks had been chiselled, his sharper features framed by that strong jaw. He hadn’t thought he would end up this handsome.

Betty was bouncing on the balls of her feet. “Think you could… maybe do a few flexes for me?”

Bruce laughed incredulously. “What? Seriously?”

“Oh, please.” His wife laughed, smacking his rockhard arm. “Like you don’t want to show off more.”

“Well… maybe I could do one or two small poses…” Bruce smirked, bouncing his ponderous pecs to Betty’s delight. He looked down at his reflection, widening his stance as his sequoia-like legs rippled. He hunched down, his back spreading out like the vast, rolling wilderness around him as he brought his arms in a most muscular pose, biceps grinding against his stone-like chest. “I just don’t know if I have the right stuff for this sort of thing,” he said with a wink.

“Oh, shut up!” Betty giggled. “What else you got? And if you do that beach ball routine…”

The green giant scoffed. “You’re no fun.” He stood up to his full height, twisting his leg to the side, bending his knee. His nearly spherical calf surged, the tear drop shaped swell of his quads bulging as his thigh rippled. He grabbed one wrist to tense his arms, mashed tight against his chest. His pecs surged forward like a charging army, brushing against his jawline as he let those two slabs swell as big as he could get them.

Betty was close to fanning herself. “You’re something else, Bruce…”

“Heh. I’m going to keep it up ‘til I render you speechless.” Admiring his reflection, he bent one leg down, letting the other spread out, his quads growing tense up the long expanse of green muscle. Hovering closer to Betty, he flexed his two arms, biceps rising up like mountains as he bounced them, letting horseshoe-shaped triceps ripple, framing his boulder shoulders.

“Most amazing sight we’ve seen since getting up here, isn’t it?” Bruce smiled with clenched teeth, then looked down, realizing his wife wasn’t there any more. “Betty?” He looked around, and couldn’t see her anywhere. “Betty!”

As he moved back up to the cabin, Betty rushed out, a smartphone in hand. “Bruce? We got an emergency call, from the Avengers.”

The Hulk’s easy going smile slipped away in face of a frown. “What’s happened?”

“If you’re looking to show off, you just got the perfect opportunity, hon.” Betty pointed to the phone. “Some of your old friends are over in Edmonton. Xenmu and Bi-Beast, and it looks like you’re the closest one out here.”

Bruce looked over to the horizon. Just at the edge, they could see the skyline of the city. He turned back to Betty.

“Go and smash ‘em, Bruce.” She grinned.

Bruce returned the grin, and nodded. “I’ll be back in an hour.”