The Incredible Hulk

The alarm blared at 7:00 a.m. sharp, the same grating tone that had stirred me awake every day for the past five years. 

Accounting. Of all the career paths I could have taken, it had to be this one. Numbers, ledgers, balance sheets—I was good at it, sure, but it never was enough. Every day, I dragged myself to the bank, only to sit behind a desk and watch vast sums of money move in and out of accounts that didn't belong to me.

Meanwhile, my bank account was a sad parody. The pay barely kept the lights on, and as for my mode of transport, it was a beat-up, second-hand bike that coughed and sputtered louder than I did when climbing stairs. 

My life is terrible, but there is hope, I have thought for the past five months. The supervisor was fired for corruption, and I had a chance at the promotion if I worked hard, and I did, but that was gone. Some newbies came right at that time. One of them bribed the higher-ups and got the job, and when I confronted them, they threatened me.

Every goddamn thing in my life till now, is the biggest piece of shit that I've ever witnessed. I wiped the tears in my eyes.

Hope. That cruel little flicker I'd clung to for the past five months had been snuffed out faster than I could even apprehend. I worked hard. Harder than anyone else in that office. And what did it get me? A front-row seat to the corruption I'd been too immature to see coming.

When I confronted them, they didn't even bother pretending. Just smirked, threw a thinly veiled threat my way, and left me sitting there like a fool. The promotion was gone, just like that.

I stared at my hands, clenched into fists. My nails bit into my palms, grounding me in the anger I couldn't seem to shake. I hated this. Hated all of it. The job, the system, the suffocating cycle I couldn't break free from.

If only life were like that, I thought bitterly, taking a bite of rubbery pasta. Heroes didn't have to deal with bills, bikes that barely worked, or scumbag coworkers. They had power and purpose. Something to fight for.

I tossed the plate aside and leaned back, staring at the ceiling. The world felt so much larger than me, and I was just... nothing.

Then it happened.

At first, it was subtle—a strange, almost imperceptible hum in the air. The light above me flickered, dimmed, and then surged back brighter than ever. My chest tightened, and for a moment, I thought I was having a heart attack.

The hum grew louder, a vibration that rattled through my entire body. The air grew heavier and thicker, and before I could react, a blinding flash of light consumed everything.

I was above the clouds, flying at an unimaginable speed, I crashed into a building, and a moment later, I saw someone.

"Who are you?" I mean, I should be asking that.

"Who are you?" I asked them.

"I asked you first." The man on my right, with a cape, told me.

"Just tell me," I was somewhere else, other than my home, I'm glad but where the hell am I? 

"I'm Dr. Strange and this is Wong." Dr. Strange...hmm... strange, isn't he the guy in Marvel?

This particular situation is oddly familiar, but a sudden surge of memories barged into my mind. "ARRGH!" I shouted, clutching my head, it pains like a bitch.

"Thanos... THANOS IS COMING!" I shouted to them and Dr. Strange raised his eyebrows, "Who?"

*Title Card: Avengers: Infinity War* [Just kidding]

"Who is Thanos?" Dr Strange asked he didn't know who he was. 

Dr. Strange's eyes narrowed as he exchanged a glance with Wong. "You're going to need to be a little more specific. Who is Thanos, and why are you screaming like the universe is about to end?"

"Because it is!

"You don't know?" I managed to stammer. "The Mad Titan. The guy with the chin that looks like... a raisin. He's coming for the Infinity Stones! He is a purple guy, who is quite huge, not gonna lie."

"Infinity Stones?" Wong muttered, his tone suddenly serious.

Dr. Strange raised a hand, a golden circle of energy forming in the air. "If you're lying or delusional, we'll find out soon enough."

"Delusional?" I snapped, more out of frustration than bravery. "I just got ripped out of my terrible life, crash-landed here, and now I'm talking to two guys I've only seen in the mov—" I stopped myself, realising how crazy I sounded.

"What are you doing, Stephen?" Wong asked, stepping closer.

"I'm casting a truth spell," Dr. Strange replied. "If he knows something important, I'll see it."

The golden circle expanded, enveloping me in shimmering light. For a moment, it felt warm, almost comforting—until it wasn't. My chest tightened as if invisible hands were squeezing my lungs. Images of Thanos, Thor, Loki, and Heimdall, and the destruction of the spaceship, and Thanos capturing the space stone, were projected into the air like a hologram.

Wong's face turned pale. "By the gods... this can't be real."

Strange, always the composed one, simply stared, his brow furrowing deeper. "How do you know this?"

"I don't know!" I shouted. "It just... came to me. Like someone shoved a USB stick into my brain and dumped all this into it. But it's real. I know it's real. Fuck, it pains me."

Strange stepped back. "If what you're saying is true, then Earth—and the entire universe—is in grave danger."

"We need to warn the others," Wong said urgently.

"Agreed," Strange said. He turned back to me, his expression unreadable. "Wait a minute, I know you, you're the Hulk. Bruce Banner, the renowned scientist that went missing a few years back."

"Hulk?" I blinked. 

Dr. Strange's frown deepened. "You don't remember? You're Bruce Banner. The last time we saw you—or rather, the Hulk—was years ago. You've been missing ever since the events in Sokovia."

"No, no, no, maybe it's the damage to my brain or something, I'm sure I'll be fine in a few minutes."

I could feel my heart pounding against my chest as Dr. Strange stared at me, waiting for some kind of explanation that I didn't have. I wasn't Bruce Banner. Hell, I wasn't anyone important. I was just a guy who'd had enough of his crappy life, suddenly thrust into a situation far beyond my comprehension.

"Yeah, you're a bit unconvincing..." Dr. Strange told me, assertively, with no panic.

"What?" I don't know what happened, but I felt energy surging inside my face, my vision turned green, and I felt anger, boundless anger.

"Woah, woah, woah, calm down, Banner!" Wong shielded himself. 

Before I knew it, I was 9 feet tall. "GET OUT!" I heard in my mind, that it was the Hulk. "GET OUT OF MY BODY!" He shouted at me.

"Chill, dude."

"GET OUT!" The Hulk's voice thundered in my head, a deep, guttural growl vibrating through my skull. "I DON'T WANT YOU!"

But it wasn't just me anymore. There was this other thing—this beast—inside my head, roaring for release. My teeth gritted together, but I couldn't stop the transformation. My limbs grew thick with muscle, my skin turning that telltale green as my mind slipped further into chaos.

"Not good!" Wong shouted, stepping back. "Stephen, this could be worse than we thought!"

"Calm down, Hulk!" Dr. Strange said, raising a hand toward me, golden energy swirling around his fingers. But his voice lacked conviction. I could feel the power building, the unstable energy in the air, and I wasn't sure if he could even control me at this point.

But the hulk wasn't in control, I was.