003 ☢ [ location: outside sanctuary (for all)]

[hulk]

New sentiment or no, Bruce was still uncomfortable enough at the party to grab the opportunity to slip out for some air. He told Dr. Magnus Helen that he would be back in a few minutes and headed for the door.

Outside, he had to resist shuddering. The sudden turn in the weather wasn't exactly unwelcome (even perpetual sunshine got a little weird after a couple months), but it certainly fit the Halloween vibe. Add that to the definite lack of Extras on the street... Very creepy. But he didn't think much of it, but it did make him that much more watchful.

It was only a few steps from the door to the Sanctuary when Bruce noticed it. At first it was just a few heavy footsteps, but by the time he tried to look for the source, there was nothing. Then all at once, there were tanks rumbling down the street, infantrymen armored and armed to the teeth trotting out from alleys, and the rotors of choppers could be heard overhead. Even as his eyes widened in fear, Bruce was bolting, running as fast and as hard as could.

But it didn't matter - everywhere he turned, they were herding him back to the Sanctuary. Scant yards away from the building, he was surrounded by a wall faceless soldiers, helmets pulled down and automatic rifles at the ready. He turned around in a tight circle, trying to find some way, any way out, but the one gap was soon filled by Ross and his man from New York and flashing green cracking gunfire tiny gnat shooting hurting jumping leave me alone. Bruce shook his head, trying to get rid of the flashbacked fragments, heard the frantic beeping correlating to the pounding in his chest and head.

"You really thought I wouldn't find you here?" Ross chewed on his cigar, smoke wreathing around his face. "You really thought you were safe? You're mine, Banner. Always have been, from the minute you started all of this."

He was so focused on trying to calm himself, just hold onto that edge don't let go, don't, he didn't even see the gun butt coming at his face. Pain shot from a newly broken nose even as Bruce fell to the ground.

"Where is it?" The clipped British accent was sneering, mocking. A kick to the gut, and he could barely hear the soldier go on. "I want to see it. Where. Is. It?" And another kick. The beeping was a continuous siren now and the last sane thought Bruce had was Oh, god, please don't let anyone se-

His eyes shot open, irises a sickly unnatural green. He groaned in pain, veins popping out against quickly paling skin as the cloth tore. Bones rearranged themselves, growing and shifting out from under warped and darkening skin. He screamed, convulsing and growing, growing, growing, and soon the costume was shredded on the ground to reveal the real monster underneath.

Tree-trunk arms pushed the insanely muscled green body the size of a pickup truck up off the pavement. It barely noticed the soldiers and tanks fading away like the smoke from Ross' cigar. The deep rumbling in its chest grew until the monster roared its rage throughout the Taxon cavern until the very foundations shook.

The Hulk was out.

{ooc: GRAB YOUR TOWELS CAUSE THIS SHIT IS ABOUT TO GO DOWN D:}

Comments

[abigailsciuto.livejournal.com]

Abby wasn't that far behind David. She knew he liked his space and liked his privacy, but she couldn't stop herself but to worry. She stayed a few steps behind on purpose, to wait and watch where he couldn't see her right off. What was he doing? He seemed so distressed, and Abby could feel concern growing in her gut. Creeping around a corner, a gust of wind whipped her dress and wig. She slid the blond hair off and gripped it in one hand.

"Dav-" she was cut off by his groan, followed by a scream. Abby rushed forward, not realizing the change that was occurring. "David, what's wr-" Again she stopped short as she saw what was happening. She saw it, but it didn't make any sense.

Green. It was the only word she could think of.

[hulk]

The Hulk swung his shaggy head around, almost snuffling as it looked around the street. There were usually those tiny things running around, it knew that much. Sometimes they ran away from it, and sometimes they ran towards it. Those were the ones that would yell and try to hurt it.

It didn't like being hurt, but it also didn't like change. It was used to the little things. It could deal with them.

It finally found a small thing, but it wasn't running at all. It was just standing there. The Hulk took a few steps toward the small thing, then stopped. It growled, showing off a very pale green set of teeth.

[abigailsciuto.livejournal.com]

Frozen in fear, Abby kept herself very still. Were giant green monsters like bears? If you played dead, would they leave? This was new territory, so all she did was stand as still as she could while shaking uncontrollably.

The growl made her let out a short yelp of fear. Good god, was she about to die? Where was Gibbs when she needed him? Not that even he could do much against this... this thing. It still hadn't clicked that the large hulking mass was standing where David had just recently been.

[Location: Near the Sanctuary]

[whoiamundrneath.livejournal.com]

Bruce was under the impression that things couldn't get any stranger, and it was unfortunate for him that he was wrong. After dodging flying monkey bats on his way to the party he'd been hearing about, the last thing he expected was the roar that shook the street around him.

He froze, and even after a moment to process, Bruce still wound up following his first instinct. He went to investigate. Someone might be in trouble. And once again, he was faced with another first.

After all, you just don't see those huge green guys walking around every day. Not even in downtown Gotham.

Bruce stared in disbelief, wondering how and why he wound up in places like this, but he didn't move. The man -- God, he was disturbingly big -- didn't really seem to notice him. And he really wished he had his suit right about now.

[hulk]

Said flying monkey bats chose that moment to try and swarm the monster. It snarled in annoyance, swatting at them with giant hands. A few ended up getting hit - his reach and size were enough to bring down several at a time - but there were too many, and the Hulk roared its irritation at them.

As it stumbled back from the annoyance (it would take something with a lot more firepower to even break its skin), its foot hit a car. The Hulk quickly hefted it and threw it at the main flock of monkey bats. It hit a few...

Before sailing over in the direction of Bruce Wayne.

[whoiamundrneath.livejournal.com]

And now it was time to move.

Taking off in the opposite direction of the flying car, Bruce found himself ducking and rolling even once he was clear to avoid scattering monkey bats. He wished he'd stayed at home.

The nearest pissed off creature flew straight for him once he was on his feet again, and he sidestepped it, hitting the animal and throwing it into a wall. A little cruel, but oddly enough, he didn't feel all that bad about it.

The question was, should he be more worried about these stupid things, or the guy that'd just thrown a car at him?

... He'd take it one at a time. Or try to, anyway.

[location: south osten]

[notanemptymotto.livejournal.com]

Helen had been mingling through the party as she heard the roar that echoed from outside. It almost seemed to still the entire party, and for a moment Helen had thought that one of the creatures in her Sanctuary had become rampant from it's cell. Then she remembered that she had none of her patients here. Though, she had no idea she was so right that it was in fact someone from her Sanctuary.

She quickly tried to reassure her guests before heading to the doors and stepping outside to look at what had caused the problem. Her heels clicked against the stone as she made her way to the large metal gate, pushing it open to look up at the huge green creature just blocks away from the Sanctuary itself.

"Bloody hell."

[hulk]

The creaking of the opened gate drew the Hulk's attention immediately, the sound carrying easily in the still night air. It growled, remembering the metallic screeching from things in the air coming down at it, of things rolling on the ground towards it, carrying more little humans that would hurt it.

The monster had already managed to do a substantial amount of damage, and it wasn't that much to reach down and rip up a section of asphalt and concrete (or whatever materials Taxon used in place of such things), and heaving it at the source. It roared again as it did this, and under the sheer volume it almost sounded as if it said: "LEAVE ME ALONE."

[notanemptymotto.livejournal.com]

Ripping up asphalt, concrete, and various matters of the street was something she was not expecting. She turned slightly back into the shadows of the gate, pulling the skirt of her dress up far enough to look at the garter that held the handgun. Helen removed the gun and opened the bottom of it, looking at the tranquilizer bullets that were placed inside. Hopefully she wouldn't have to use it. And yes, Helen always carried a handgun on her.

She carefully placed it back in the garter belt and moved out onto the street to get a better look at the creature. Eight feet high, at least, and very green. It wasn't something she had ever seen before. And how it had randomly appeared was rather alarming as well. It certainly couldn't have been hiding in the sewers of the underground city very easily. Helen drew in a quick breath and began to walk over to it, frowning at the painful roar it let out.

[notthatnormal.livejournal.com]

Ashley had stepped outside close to ten minutes ago: while it was nice to relax and enjoy herself without thinking about what had been on her mind however the abundance of people in the Sanctuary was a little too much. She'd seen 'that guy who had yet to introduce himself but lived in the Sanctuary' leave not long after she had though Ashley hadn't expected what was next to come. The green, the... monster that was hidden beneath him; he'd been right, he did know what it was like. Ashley didn't know whether or not she'd be able to talk to him or get through to him, but anything was worth a shot: her mom had been able to do so; anything was possible.

"Hey, are you-" Okay? Probably not. "You might want to breathe a little."

[hulk]

It turned to listen better. This noise wasn't overly loud, or demanding, or afraid. Just regular noise. It grunted curiously at this small thing, stepping closer.

Small yellow thing. Again with the familiar, but not. The Hulk shook its head, growling in confusion. It didn't like being confused.

[notthatnormal.livejournal.com]

Ashley didn't know or understand what the shake of the head meant but that didn't stop Ashley from trying; not when something like this was happening to someone that she considered a friend.

"Can you understand me?"

[Location: A Short Distance from the Sanctuary]

[childoftwo.livejournal.com]

After spending what he deemed to be an appropriate period of time at the party in the Sanctuary, Spock - dressed in his usual attire rather than a costume and still somewhat confused about the concept of Halloween - attempted to return to the Enterprise. He did not get very far.

A short distance from the Sanctuary, the half Vulcan became aware of the disturbance occurring only a short distance away. Removing his phaser from his belt in a practiced movement, Spock moved calmly and swiftly to the scene of the Hulk's transformation.

Fear was illogical. It was an unproductive use of time that could be spent planning a countermeasure. He was not afraid when he gazed upon the green being nearby, though he did not recognise the xenobiology and could not identify it's planet of origin. He would have to settle for the common tongue of the Federation.

"I suggest that you halt your actions immediately."

Re: [Location: A Short Distance from the Sanctuary]

[hulk]

The Hulk was tired of all these tiny things appearing around him. And angry that it was making noise at him while pointing something that looked enough like a gun to earn a reverberating growl.

It raised both arms, enormous hands clenching into fists, and with another deafening roar, brought them down to slam into the pavement. The amount of force behind the blow caused fissures to splinter the road for a good twenty feet and the entire block to shake.

[childoftwo.livejournal.com]

The action was not wholly unexpected, but Spock, who had been prepared for a more direct attack, was still knocked over by the shaking ground and the shattering pavement. He picked himself up immediately, his time and training in Starfleet having left with exemplary reactions.

Exemplary, but perhaps not quick enough to defeat this creature.

His phaser, which had previously remained at his side ready for use, was leveled at the Hulk. Any nerves Spock may or may not have felt remained hidden behind his usual implacable calm.

"I repeat, halt your actions immediately. As a Starfleet officer, it is my duty to prevent you from causing further damage to this city and it's inhabitants."

[notsawbones.livejournal.com]

It had been a long, bizarre evening and it seemed the weather agreed with this nagging feeling McCoy had in the pit of his stomach... although he could cite the Klingon bloodwine being responsible for that sentiment along with the other alcoholic beverages Jim had replicated up while forcing him to sit through his old, historic films. He failed to see what was so exciting about a man wearing lipstick and fishnet stockings, but his best friend was enthralled by the Rocky Horror Picture show and another simply name 'Halloween'.

But it had been a good evening and now his body craved sleep, so he ambled back over to the Sanctuary For All. The doctor had just stepped off the tramline when he heard the deafening roar nearby. "Good God, what now." He muttered under his breath and tucked his medkit under one arm before making his way to Sanctuary For All.

That was when he saw the hulking silhouette through the fog. Good God, indeed.

[hulk]

Luckily for the good doctor, the monster was far too distracted punching at a building. The building hadn't really done anything, but the noise of the tram lines running had startled it, and the building was unfortunately right there.

The Hulk didn't enjoy being startled.

[notsawbones.livejournal.com]

McCoy watched as the seeming monster in the fog punched at the building, causing artificial dust and debris to shudder and hit the pavement with each agitated strike, as the doctor looked on.

He made a mental note to stop walking around at night; something like this always seemed to happen, but there was no way to just ignore this. Anyone else walking around could be injured if they happened to stray in the hulking masses' path.

"Hey! Cut that out!"

[faderbroderson]

Godric was walking with Gaila, the two of them intent on making their way to the nest so fun times might be had and experiments in blood consumption conducted. They were in no big hurry, and the night was cool, but not cold enough to bother Gaila, it seemed. So they walked at a leisurely pace, sharing smiles and small talk. It was distracting enough that even Godric, with his keen senses, didn't notice anything out of the ordinary until they rounded the corner.

At the end of the block stood what could only be described as a monster.

[mylifeisjoy.livejournal.com]

Gaila, not having any extraordinary senses, didn't notice Hulk SMAAASH, either, and she was rather intent on paying more attention to Godric than the street. Which was just as well because she can observe changes in expressions and body language. She isn't that clueless.

"Wha —" Gaila cut herself off, as she turned her head to stare at the creature. It (he?) was...huge, and it did not look happy. Gaila's first instinct was to run, but as it were, she was a little too shocked to move.

[hulk]

The creature stared them down through the fog. It hadn't noticed them before Gaila began making noise, but now it glared at them, teeth bared in a snarl. It had been punching in the hood of car that it had stubbed a toe on, but it was now distracted by the two small things down the street.

[Location: Outside of the Sanctuary]

[thecheerleader.livejournal.com]

Claire had just stepped out of the main entrance of the Sanctuary, hoping to either find Nathan or go to his house and drag him to the party, when she glanced up and saw a huge guy (who was as green as her Tinkerbell costume) looking like he was about to raise hell.

She would have done the smart thing and ran, but she was having a hard time walking away and allowing the not-so-jolly giant to destroy the city. So, instead of moving away, she started toward him. "I hope you don't mistake me for your girlfriend," she muttered under her breath, chasing after him. "Hey," Claire shouted as loud as she could, trying to get his attention.

Step one was to see if he was friendly. "Hey, stop!" Step two would be to see if he was Sylar with a new personality, because that would happen to them in this city. "Stop!"

[hulk]

The hulking thing was indeed about to raise hell, but was momentarily distracted by the small girl talking at it. It huffed curiously at her, waiting to see what she would do next.

She could either:
A) make more noise,
B) run away,
or C) try and hurt it.

Any of the three options meant Hulk could respond by:
A) smash,
B) grown and smash,
or C) roar and smash.

Multiple choice was supposed to make things easier.

[Location: Street in Central Taxon]

[slasher-slayer.livejournal.com]

Cassie rounded a corner, having split up with Ethan, even though she didn't even know his name. In all their snarky back and forth, names hadn't been exchanged. Then the flying monkey bats had come back for more, not having learned their lesson the first time when Cassie had downed one of them with a single bullet to the skull.

These little bastards had come back with a vengeance, separating the two and had almost succeeded in flying away with Cassie. Two of those little fuckers had grabbed Cassie by the arms when she'd run out of bullets, and before she could grab the spare clip in her replica ghost trap.

Cassie was currently a good fifty feet in the air, no idea where the monkey bats were taking her. She'd been trying to reach for the ghost trap for the past ten minutes as the monkeys seemed to fly towards the middle of the city. As she grumbled to herself, the butt of her .9mm clenched between her teeth, she finally got her hands on the trap, pulling the spare clip out and made quick work of replacing it.

"Sorry, fellas," Cassie said through gritted teeth as she glanced down, seeing that they were approaching a three story building. "But this is where I get off." And then she fired. Monkey bat blood splattered on her face as the bullet tore through the chin of the one on her right, eliciting a screech from the one on the left. Righty released her arm and spiraled down to the ground, making a sick cracking sound on impact. At the sudden loss of his partner, Lefty began losing altitude and in his anger, he just dropped Cassie.

"Fuck!" Cassie shouted, aiming a shot at Lefty as she fell, not sure if she'd hit him and she reached out for one of the balconies she was passing on the way down. Her fingers burned from trying to grab the railings and missing, but she finally got a good, (read: painful) grip on the last balcony railing before she hit the ground. Her arms burned and she had a feeling she'd end up black and blue in the morning. If I make it till morning, Cassie corrected herself.

She hung off the side of the balcony, trying to pull herself back up, but the burning pain in her arms was making it difficult.

[hulk]

The monster instantly recognized the sound of gunfire, and that of the monkey bats. Both sounds registered as 'bad' in the Hulk's mind, so it snarled and began swatting the nasty little creatures down.

It continued swiping and growling, eventually making its way under the balcony where Cassie was hanging. The monkey bats were finally winging off back to wherever the hell they'd come from, and Hulk was roaring after them triumphantly. But as one tree-trunk arm swung back to rest at its side, it hit something dangling.

It turned to see a pair of legs hanging from a balcony. Grunting curiously, it grabbed hold of one leg and tugged on it.