Marvel: I am Iron Man

Banner's gamma countermeasures team is working diligently.

Thanks to Banner, the first day went relatively smoothly. The countermeasures team had fully grasped Banner's ideas and, before they even had time to marvel at Dr. Banner's genius which was beyond the imagination of the times, they plunged into intense development work.

But then, new bad news exploded like a bombshell.

A SHIELD reconnaissance captain, pale-faced, arrived with this nightmarish news.

In their initial, simple reconnaissance, they believed the AIM base was uninhabited. They speculated that perhaps realizing the reactor was about to go out of control, and that the terrorists lacked the ability to clean up the mess, they simply fled.

Or perhaps the gamma energy released in the instant the reactor went out of control evaporated them all, killing them at the hands of their own creation.

It's just that Aegis only dared to observe from a safe distance away from the gamma barrier, and the gamma energy interference was too strong, so it was only now that they realized the previous hasty preliminary reconnaissance results were inaccurate.

The energy released during the instant the gamma reactor went out of control did kill a large number of AIM members, but unfortunately, not all of them.

A small group of people in that base who were exposed to gamma radiation did not die, but instead mutated.

Yes, it's similar to a mutation of the Hulk. While far less powerful than the Hulk, the mutations are similar. For some reason, those mutated monsters seemed to have been hiding in the base's underground facilities, which is why they hadn't been discovered before.

Upon receiving this nightmarish news, Coulson immediately reported it to the organization and convened a meeting of everyone in the camp to discuss new countermeasures.

The original plan was simply to wait for Banner's resonance canceller to be completed, and then have a team of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents in radiation protection gear enter the Nagamma Realm to install the device on the runaway reactor.

But now that they know there's a bunch of gamma-mutated monsters roaming the base, the situation is completely different.

They had heard about the Hulk's terror from the documents. General Ross's repeated failed attempts to capture him had brought back intelligence that "the Hulk is an invincible monster completely beyond the capabilities of modern military forces."

And now, someone is telling them that there are a dozen similar things roaming around that base...

Even the most terrifying nightmares are probably no more than this.

The countermeasures team and the SHIELD operations team quickly convened a meeting to discuss how to get the team through the base, which was filled with gamma monsters, to the reactor.

They proposed using various weapons, new equipment, and various tactics...

But they were all rejected one by one, as if it were perfectly reasonable.

Banner had previously stated that bombarding the reactor site with mass-destructive firepower would be tantamount to adding fuel to the fire. However, without strategic weapons, sending conventionally armed soldiers into the fray to face a large number of gamma monsters would be tantamount to suicide.

Bruce Banner sat at the conference table and suddenly felt the air grow heavy.

He felt a little breathless, and for a moment the sounds of the heated discussion around him seemed to fade into the distance. He took off his glasses, rubbed the bridge of his nose, and took several deep breaths before he finally heard his own mouth make a sound.

"I'll go," he said.

The discussion abruptly stopped, and everyone stopped and looked at him.

Yes, Banner made a decision that even he found somewhat unbelievable.

Because Banner knew that probably only "his" power could stop this disaster.

Coulson asked, "What...did you just say?"

"I said, I'll go in," Banner said. "If I'm lucky, maybe I can sneak past all the gamma monsters to the reactor and install the resonance canceller to solve the problem... Of course, the chances of that are extremely slim."

But if luck is against you, you can simply switch to Plan B.

"Plan B?" Coulson repeated in a questioning tone.

"Yes. Plan B is, if I'm unlucky enough to run into the monster inside, I'll release my monster too," Banner said. "Based on the radiation analysis of this gamma barrier, I'm certain that the gamma monster inside is far less powerful than the Hulk."

I believe that if it's the Hulk, there's a good chance he can take them all down. Wait for me... I mean, wait until the Hulk clears all the obstacles, then you can go in."

Coulson hesitated for a few seconds, then said, "But that would still leave Hulk behind."

Banner shook his head: "No, I know the Hulk a little bit. He'll smash all those gamma monsters in a fit of rage, but once he runs out of things to smash, if I'm lucky enough, maybe he'll let me out. Or he'll just leave and go somewhere else."

And although I often lose my mind when I'm transformed, I can still influence Hulk's actions to some extent...

Coulson: "But you said before that if you transform again, maybe...maybe..."

"Maybe I'll never come back, yes," Banner sighed softly.

Yes, no one understands what this means better than him.

If things really develop that way, then what awaits him is not death. No, even death will become a kind of liberation.

It was like a perpetual exile, a life sentence imprisoned within his own body. Hulk would no longer be an out-of-control tenant; he would be the sole, eternal master of this body.

And what about yourself?

He might fall into the sea of ​​rage deep within the Hulk's consciousness, becoming a bystander who screams forever, for whom even death is a luxury.

How ironic. I've wasted years of my life, hiding like an ant in some corner of the world, just trying to preserve the little corner that still belongs to me.

But now, he wants to throw this last key into the furnace with his own hands.

Coulson fell silent, and everyone in the room fell silent as well.

They all just looked at Banner quietly, their eyes like those of someone looking at a martyr worthy of their highest respect.

"I'll report this to Chief Fury and ask if there are any other options. But if not..."

Coulson sighed, stood up, and solemnly stepped forward.

"You are a hero, Dr. Banner."

Banner smiled bitterly.

Hero?

I never imagined that such a word would be used against me.

"No, I'm not a hero. I'm just a scientist who went down the wrong path." Banner shook his head, waved his hand, and said, "Alright, the plan is decided. Now... everyone go back to work."

The decision was made. At this moment, he should have felt fear, but Banner surprisingly found that he didn't seem to feel any.

He actually felt... at peace.

Yes, calm. Like a sense of relief tinged with a hint of martyrdom.

At least this time, his anger and his curses might be used to save him.

...

However, neither the countermeasures team nor the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents knew that this meeting, like all the meetings they had held here before, had been overheard by an unauthorized eavesdropper.

Jarvis: "Dr. Banner has made a respectable decision, sir."

"Yeah, he's a hero, he was born that way," Tony said casually, busy with his work.

Jarvis said, "In my opinion, you are a hero too, sir."

"Me? No. Maybe I was before, but not anymore." As Tony said this, his hands unconsciously paused, and he let out a sigh of regret.

Jarvis: "I don't understand, sir."

"It doesn't matter... Dr. Banner's spirit of sacrifice is commendable, but unfortunately, we might not need it." Tony dragged a floating screen displaying design blueprints in front of him. "We got pretty good loot from the last AIM base. Do you think this base might have left us some good stuff too?"