"The Hulk's strength?" Betty asked, taking the syringe and looking at it with confusion.
"Yes," Klein replied, his voice as smooth as silk. "You are an ordinary person, and Mr. Banner is a superhuman with immense power. You live in different worlds. Even if you are together now, you will eventually be separated by circumstances. But with this, everything will be different. It can help you overcome the barriers between you. It will grant you super strength, super jumping ability, and nearly invincible defense and recovery. Would you like to try it? There are no side effects."
Klein's words were like a devil's whisper, and Betty was moved. She looked at the syringe in her hand, then slowly moved it toward her arm, ready to inject it.
"Wait," Klein said, stopping her. "Not here. It will make a great deal of noise and disturb Mr. Banner."
Betty came to her senses, realizing she had been acting on impulse. She followed Klein to an empty training room. "This place is specially designed to isolate any sound or movement," he explained.
Looking at the syringe, Betty didn't doubt Klein for a second. He was an excellent persuader, and in this case, he wasn't lying. She thought of her father, of Bruce, of her life's work. She loved Bruce deeply. As for her father, gaining powers didn't mean she could never see him again. Being with Bruce was more important.
She picked up the syringe again, hesitated, then put it down. "You do it," she said to Klein.
"Of course," he replied with a gentlemanly smile. "As a gentleman, it is my duty." He took the syringe. "Ma'am, please bear with me. This will hurt a little." Then, he pressed the needle into her outstretched arm.
"Why would it hurt?" Betty said, unconcerned. "It's just a small needle." As a cell biologist, she was no stranger to injections. But as the serum entered her bloodstream, she felt a sensation unlike any she had ever experienced. It was as if her very cells were at war. They trembled wildly, tearing apart and dividing at an unnatural rate.
"Ah!" She fell to her knees, clutching her body as it began to swell, her skin turning a deep, vibrant red. Her body grew, but only to the size of Colossus, not to the monstrous proportions of the Hulk.
The next morning, Bruce Banner opened his eyes. He saw a red giant looking down at him. He yelped, did a convulsive sit-up, and rolled off the bed, scrambling to hide behind it. "Hulk? Why are you out? And why are you red?" he asked, his voice trembling.
Betty rolled her eyes. "Bruce, it's me, Betty." As she spoke, the red giant's body began to shrink, her skin returning to its normal color.
"Betty? It's really you!" Banner peeked out from behind the bed. "How did you... become like this?"
"I've become a giant, just like you," she said, a strange new confidence in her voice. "Now my father won't be able to catch me either."
Banner was a smart man. He understood immediately that she had done this for him. He was deeply moved. "You didn't have to do this for me," he said softly.
"I feel great," she replied. "I have immense strength, I don't get tired, and I'll never get sick again. This way, I can devote myself even more to my research."
Banner looked at her with pure affection, then pulled her into a hug. They kissed, and as they did, their bodies began to change, one turning green, the other red. It seemed a battle of giants was about to break out in the room.
Clap, clap, clap.
The sound of slow applause echoed through the room. "Hey, guys," a voice said, "this isn't a hotel. My company's building can't withstand two giants clapping for joy in here. You'll bring the whole place down."
Banner and Betty froze, their transformations halting. They awkwardly pulled apart.
"Ahem," Betty coughed, then introduced the newcomer. "Bruce, this is Klein Moretti, the president of Marvel. His people saved you from my father, and they defeated Blonsky. Mr. Moretti also said he could help you control the Hulk."
Banner was stunned. He had been on the run for so long, but he had heard of the new superhero company. He could believe they had the power to subdue the Abomination, but he couldn't believe they could help him control the Hulk. He had tried everything, but nothing had worked.
Klein seemed to read his thoughts. "Mr. Banner," he said with a smile, "there's a solution for everything. Nothing is impossible. You should at least try before you jump to conclusions. After all, you have nothing to lose."
Banner, realizing his distrust was showing, quickly thanked him. "Thank you, Mr. Moretti."
"Tony, your father was a genius," Ratchet said, looking at the triangular-shaped piece of metal Tony was holding. "We have records of a similar element on Cybertron. It's very similar to the energy of the legendary Tesseract. This energy is perfect for powering spatial devices. With it, the construction of the Ground Bridge can be completed quickly."
Tony was surprised. "Powering a space device? I haven't even tested its properties yet. I only know it can be used in the Arc Reactor. And what's this Cosmic Cube?"
"Yes, the Tesseract is the artifact of the All-Father, Odin," Ratchet explained. "He rules the Nine Realms, and Earth, or Midgard, is one of them. It is said that Odin travels between worlds using the Bifrost Bridge, which was created based on the principles of the Tesseract."
"Sounds magical," Tony said. "But you said this element can speed up the construction of the Ground Bridge, so let's get started. I'm looking forward to seeing this teleporter of yours."
Ratchet went to a corner of the lab and brought out a pile of components. "I've already fabricated the basic parts. I was just waiting for a suitable power source. Now that we have your new element, it should be ready soon."
Tony nodded, impressed. "I didn't expect you to be so reliable, Ratchet."
At that same moment, in the deserts of New Mexico, the sky churned with thunder and lightning. A hammer fell from the storm like a meteorite, embedding itself in the sand. Not far away, a naked man also fell from the sky, crashing into the van of an astrophysicist named Jane Foster.
Inside Tony's base, Optimus Prime stepped onto the conveyor belt that had replaced the stairs, slowly ascending to Tony's laboratory. He walked in carefully, looking around. "Why did Tony replace the stairs with a conveyor belt?" he wondered. "How strange."
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