The Sage of the Mind

Disclaimer - The rights of the respective characters are with their respective owners. I don't mean to violate their intellectual property rights and thus, only my original characters are my IP. 

The Sage of the Mind: Chapter 21

Triskelion [November 2008]

–Phil Coulson–

He was wrong.

The Invisible Man was not the strongest person on the planet, not now. Not by a long shot. Watching as the Hulk grew bigger with each new gamma radiation spike, along with an increased ability to smash things and throw stuff, he was forced to eat his previous words.

The Invisible Man might be able to exert force over a large area with astonishing precision but the Hulk? The Hulk was a whole other force of nature.

He could somehow punch and create sonic booms in the aftermath, leaving behind just broken bodies and vehicles.

"...Um, Director? Is it just me or should we stop General Ross from making this even more of a mess?" He couldn't help asking the Director as they watched the paperwork pile up on the screen, showing the sheer amount of government resources that the, in his opinion, Mad General was about to use and waste on a cross-country hunt because he could not get a hint and was salty about his daughter getting a boyfriend.

Well, those were his private thoughts and not something that could be proven in a court of law but he was pretty sure that had it been anybody other than Bruce Banner who had become that hulking green monstrosity, the obsession that General Ross had, would have been much more…tamed.

"...Sir? Aren't we going to do anything? Banner clearly seems to be headed to Manhattan. Are we not worried about two very powerful forces meeting there?" He voiced his concerns as they looked at a series of reports that showed Bruce's destination. Sure, he tried to throw people off by booking a bunch of tickets going the other way and then travelling to Manhattan on foot or on public transport but to their legion of SHIELD analysts, it was easy work to figure out that Banner would seek the safety of the Invisible Man long before he tried to flee the country.

"...Hmm?' The Director said as he came out of his introspection and then, after taking a look at him, looked at the screen that showed the prediction reports and just pressed the delete button.

What?

The confusion must have been very evident on his face as the Director chuckled, "We never knew that Banner was headed to Manhattan, Coulson. If we knew, we would have been obligated to stop him before he reached such a sensitive zone but oh well, we had no idea and thus, were unsuccessful in stopping Banner, a declared fugitive, from entering a safe zone," 

The smirk on Director Fury's face was very disconcerting. Even for him.

"...I see," He was nothing if not adaptable to such changes in the situation. That was probably for the best anyway because imagining the lives lost in an altercation with the Hulk was not encouraging plus the invisible man maintained an ironclad hold on the city and if the Hulk started rampaging out, he could just…pick him up and throw him in the river to cool down.

They did not know the upper limits of both the Invisible Man and the Hulk but the way his powers worked, the Invisible Man was uniquely positioned to contain the Hulk with ease, or rather, transport him out of the city such that no large-scale damage occurred to the city, something that General Ross could not boast about.

"Should I head out to the city HQ then? In preparation for a visit by General Ross himself?" 

He received a deadpan stare in exchange for his question and then nodded to himself, receiving his answer. He then promptly turned on his heel to leave Director Fury's office.

"..Coulson," He stopped at Director Fury's words, "Take the STRIKE team, you might need them,"

His words made him raise an eyebrow but additional firepower never hurt anyone….unless somebody used it.

"Very well," He muttered and stepped out, somewhat cautious of the General now that DIrector Fury gave him the supposedly best ops team of SHIELD. Maybe the General was even more crazy than he had given him credit for?

Only time will tell, he thought to himself as he prepared himself for a long assignment.

Manhattan [November 2008]

–Bruce Banner (THE HULK)--

His heart pounded as he covered himself in a grey hoodie, wearing sunglasses as he kept looking at the roads in a bid to calm his hammering heart.

Fat load of good that did when he saw police cars at every fucking intersection. His hands were bone white as he clenched them after every single turn of the bus, his heart rate shooting up as flashes of green intermingled with his normal vision.

He tried, he tried really hard to just..not become him but the first chance he gets, he gets out immediately, and rather violently at that. It was not something he could control and yet, he was foolish on his way to a residential area with a major civilian population.

Ideally, he would have left the country and settled in some remote part of Canada, that is, until Ross would have eventually tracked him down and then he would have had to move again, after…killing those soldiers.

God, it made him retch anytime he thought of the casualties that came from his hand. The people he killed, were people who were just following orders, who had families at home waiting for them.

And for what? Just so Ross could cage him back and then use him to make an army of the same monster he had become. 

No.

He will not become a tool for the Army and yet, he knew what fate awaited him if he did become a recluse somewhere in a remote corner of the world. No human contact? No research? No way to figure out how to remove the monster from him, allowing him to live a semblance of a normal life?

No, he cannot accept that. And that is why, he is going to the one place that housed a monster beyond even the one that was within him.

Someone who possessed powers beyond even him and yet, used them in a safe controlled manner to help people, without ever having to worry about people hunting him down. It helped that should he ever turn into that monster permanently, the Invisible Man, as the media dubbed him, was the best chance he would have of getting out of the city in a non-violent manner and then being imprisoned later on.

He had also heard that the Invisible Man helps everyone and even sometimes listens in on people's conversation if his name is called out. He couldn't even begin to imagine the processing power required to be essentially omnipresent in a city with almost a million people living in that space, but he also could not understand how he turned himself into that 10-foot monstrosity.

So, there he was, waiting for the bus to cross the bridge and finally enter Manhattan, the promised land of New York City.

The entire time, his body was on edge, waiting for the other shoe to drop but as soon as they entered Manhattan, his entire body went limp, as if the strings holding it fell apart.

He must have looked very weird to passersby and originally, his anxiety would have shot up but he didn't exactly care much now. Not with him finally being in a safe space, away from The Military, away from Ross, and even away from…..Betty.

Oh god, Betty! She must be so worried but he couldn't contact her, not with her father looking for him.

He sighed and rubbed his face, getting off the bus and looking at the hustle and bustle on the streets.

It seemed like a different world to him. People minding their business, not even arguing or making loud noises.

Cars running in an orderly manner, even without the constant presence of the NYPD to deter them from breaking any laws.

After all, the Invisible Man was the law here, and breaking his law meant that the punishment was just as inevitable as it was swift.

"E=Excuse me, can you tell me where the congregation of Problems, happens?" He asked an old lady passing by, a much safer option to talk to, because they were very detached from the news, statistically.

"Oh, you must be new in the city then. It happens by the park. You'll see when you get there, it is impossible to miss. Bye now, dear," The very helpful lady pointed out and then he set out, on foot, because he could.

He could finally remain out in the open without the threat of some sniper trying to shoot his head off because that hadn't been tried a hundred times by the soldiers who were killed by the monster in him.

No Ross, No Military, and no monster to worry about.

Ah, he could live here forever, even if he had to be homeless for it. After all, he could forget ever using any of his bank accounts, considering he must already be a declared fugitive with his assets frozen.

Even if he did miraculously find them functioning, it would just be a ruse to track him down.

No, he would first have a talk with the Invisible Man, be honest and open about his problems, and then…see what happens.

See, he had a plan but that plan only went as far as to enter Manhattan without being captured.

He could only hope that he was accepted into the city, being the massive security risk that he was. He literally had no other options and he had already exhausted his cash reserves for booking a couple of flight and train tickets to try to throw the Military off his trail.

That should have bought him at least a couple of days.

Now, where was the congregation? He had an Invisible Person to talk to.

Oh, he knew that the invisible Man was no deity and he himself confirmed as such using his powers but the people needed something to rationalise his existence.

The existence of someone so far above them that it made them…not human.

He knew that feeling.

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