The Incredible Hulk

Tony stood there, a face caught somewhere between awe and disbelief. "You're in control of that now?" 

"Yeah," I said. "It's a long story. But right now, I think we have bigger problems."

"You think?" Tony snarked, stepping back to better see the destruction we'd left in our trail. "So, you killed one of the big bads—great. What happens when their boss shows up? Because he's not sending interns for round two."

"We need all the rest of the Avengers then, what about Thor, he's there, right?" Tony asked me, and I nodded.

"He's alive, but he needs help. He's injured. But he's gonna come back stronger," I told them, a light smile on my face, but that faded away quickly as I remembered my past life, which I left two hours ago. Damn, my mood's spoiled, I'm still having trouble to realise whether this is a lucid dream or reality.

"Wait a minute, what happened to your clothes?" Tony asked me as they were still intact. 

I chuckled, "Strange worked out his magic. I really gotta thank him." 

As we were talking, I heard the sound of webs, and a name clicked in my mind, Spider-man.

"Mr. Stark! What happened here?" Spider-Man asked Tony, as he looked at me, "Is this- is this the HULK?!" He exclaimed in shock.

Tony tilted his head. "Yeah, kid. That's the Hulk. And apparently, he's in Zen mode now. Not smashing walls—just having a chit-chat with us."

Peter Parker—Spider-Man—landed beside Tony, his eyes wide behind the mask. "Whoa. You're huge. Like, even bigger in person. Wait... Are you talking? This is so weird but also kinda cool."

I couldn't help but smile a little. "Yeah, I talk. Surprise."

Peter started calculating or something. "So, like... How does it work? Is it you and the Hulk sharing brain space, or did you do, like, some weird meditation thing? Because if it's meditation, I should really try that. My Aunt May says I'm always stressed—"

Tony waved a hand in front of Peter's face. "Focus, Underoos."

Peter straightened up immediately, nodding. "Right, right. Bad guys. End of the world. Got it."

"You stay HERE. We're going to the purple bastard's home. Now, be a friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man." Tony suggested.

"But I wanna come, Mr. Stark. I can help. How can I be a friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man if there is no neighbourhood?" Spider-Man pleaded. 

Tony sighed, running a hand through his hair as he considered Peter's request. "Kid, I get it. You want to help, but this isn't a class field trip. It's dangerous."

Spider-Man threw his hands in the air. "Dangerous is kind of my thing, Mr. Stark! I fought a giant guy with wings! This is... more aliens. And purple. I can handle it!"

"STAY HERE. I can't imagine having to tell your aunt... if something happens to you."

Peter crossed his arms, clearly unsatisfied. "But—"

"No buts!" Tony interrupted. "That's an order, kid."

Peter slumped slightly but nodded. "Fine. But if you need a backup, you call me, okay? I'm serious, Mr. Stark!"

"Okay, so we board these guy's spaceship and then go to wherever it has a saved location," I told them. 

Tony gave me a sidelong glance as we boarded the ship, "You sure this thing isn't going to explode or something when we fire it up?"

Doctor Strange, waved his hand, and glowing runes materialized over the control panel. "It's stable. I've ensured the ship's systems are functional. We can reach Thanos's location. Thankfully, it has an autopilot."

"Alright," Tony muttered. "Let's get this over with."

I leaned against the bulkhead, my massive green arms crossed as I watched them work. Despite the gravity of the situation, I couldn't shake the nagging feeling that something—or someone—was off. Slowly, I relaxed as my muscles began to contract as I transformed back.

The ship's engines roared to life, and with a sudden jump, we were airborne. Earth's atmosphere faded. Tony activated autopilot, reclining slightly. 

"Alright, bi- Oh, it's you again, Banner," Tony said, turning toward me. "While we're en route, maybe you can give us a crash course on this Zen Hulk thing you've got going on."

Before I could respond, Strange raised a hand, his eyes narrowing. "Wait. Something's not right."

A faint rustling noise came from the back of the ship. Tony's helmet snapped into place.

"Who's there?" Tony called, his repulsor raised.

A sheepish voice answered, "Uh... hi, Mr. Stark."

From the shadows emerged Spider-Man, clinging upside down to the ceiling of the ship.

Tony groaned, retracting his helmet. "You've got to be kidding me, Parker. WHAT DID I TELL YOU?"

Peter dropped down gracefully. "Look, I know you said to stay behind, but come on! This is the end of the world we're talking about! I couldn't just sit at home eating Aunt May's leftovers while you guys go off to fight the biggest bad guy in the universe."

"Hi, I'm Peter Parker," he said, waving to Wong and Strange. 

"I'm Doctor Stephen Strange and this is my friend, Wong." Strange smiled slightly.

Wong gave Peter a measured glance before nodding. "Nice to meet you, Spider-Man. Though I suppose the circumstances could be better."

"So, are you guys like the mystical Avengers or something? Do you have code names, or do you just go by 'Doctor' and 'Wong'?"

Strange sighed, clearly not in the mood for Peter's rapid-fire questions. "We're sorcerers, not superheroes. And as for code names—no. Just... no."

Tony rolled his eyes, muttering, "Great, now the kid's gonna start thinking about magic-themed names."

Peter perked up. "Ooh, maybe something like Sor-?"

"Focus, Underoos," Tony cut him off, pointing a finger in warning. 

"At least I'm backup, right?" Peter gave a nervous laugh. 

"No, you're a stowaway."

"Tony, we're nearing- Titan?" I looked at the name on the interface, gotta keep my act up. 

Tony glanced at the screen. He looked around, then shot Peter a glare. "And you're still here. You do realize you're going to be the first one to get us all killed, right?"

Peter winced. "I mean, I didn't hear any complaints when I fought that giant guy with wings. I'm basically a pro now, Mr. Stark."

Tony didn't seem convinced, but he didn't say anything else. Instead, he tapped a few buttons on the ship's interface. "Alright, we're coming in hot. Stay sharp. Everyone knows their roles?"

I nodded. Man, I need to bond with Hulk sometime, I've been hearing his snores for a few minutes now. Y'know, tell him to keep it down a bit.

"Yeah," Doctor Strange answered. 

Wong added, "Keep your guard up."

The ship descended through Titan's atmosphere, exposing a desolate landscape. There were only remnants of the past, a reminder of a thriving civilisation. 

"Landing in 3... 2... 1," the ship's voice prompted. 

"We're here... everyone alright?" I asked, still a bit disturbed by Hulk's snores.

"Mr. Stark, I think someone is coming, 'cause my spidey senses are tingling," Spider-Man said as a little ball rolled to them. *BOOM*

A miniature explosion enveloped them, and I quickly transformed. I knew who it was, it was the guardians.

"THANOSS!" Drax shouted as he threw a knife at Tony who blocked it with his shield. I needed to stop this from escalating any further, so I dashed at Star-Lord.

I shot through the air with unimaginable speed as I closed in on Star-Lord. I grabbed him by the shoulders, lifting him up with ease.

"Stop!" I growled. "This isn't the fight you think it is." 

"Relax, big guy! I just need to know where is Gamora?" He asked me as a bead of sweat rolled into his eyes, I could tell he was scared.

"Oh, I'll do you one better, who is Gamora?" Tony asked while holding Drax with a gun to his head.

"I'll do you one better!" Drax exclaimed. "WHY IS GAMORA?" he grumbled. 

"I just need where Gamora is. If you don't know, I'll beat it out of Thanos myself!" Quill shouted.

"Wait, you want to fight Thanos? What master do you serve?" Strange asked. 

"What master do I serve? What am I supposed to say, Jesus?" He said sarcastically. 

"He's from Earth... Hey, what are you hassling with us for?!" Tony shouted. 

"Earth? I'm from Missouri." Peter corrected him quickly, his tone dripping with confidence.

"That's right, it's on Earth, dipshit." Tony shot back with a hint of sarcasm.

"Wait, really?" Star-Lord asked, removing his mask.

"Of course," Peter replied. 

"Are you not with Thanos?" Strange asked.

"With Thanos? No, I'm here to see my girl," Star-Lord said, looking confused. "Who are you guys?"

"We're the Avengers," Peter explained, sticking to the wall.

"You're the ones Thor told us about." A voice echoed through the air. Star-Lord's look followed the sound, and he saw Mantis standing before him.

"You know Thor?" Tony asked Star-Lord.

Star-Lord nodded, his expression softening. "Yeah, Tall guy, not that handsome, we found him floating in space after his ship got blown to bits. He's with us now—well, he was until he took a pod to go forge a new weapon or something."

"And who is she, where was she hiding?" Tony pointed at Mantis. 

"She's an empath," Star-Lord explained. "And yeah, Thor mentioned you guys might show up. He said to 'look for the ones who talk too much and fight everything.'"

I transformed back into my normal state.

"So... we're all on the same team?" Spider-Man asked.

*CUT*

"What the hell happened to this planet?" Star-Lord complained. "The gravitational pull is all over the place and it's eight degrees off its axis." 

"Yeah, at least we know that he's coming to us, so I formed a quick plan." Tony continued, "It's simple, draw him in, pin him down, get what we need. We definitely don't wanna dance with this guy, we just need the gauntlet, alright, take the gauntlet and get the hell outta here.

"I agree with him," I told them, I knew that this was all they needed, and I should just ensure that Star-Lord didn't mess it up.

"Except that your plan is shit so let me make a plan so that it might be pretty good," Star-Lord told us, expecting something.

"No." All of us said simultaneously. 

Just then, I heard Mantis call us, "Guys, does your friend always do this?"

Strange's head was moving at dizzying velocities, its rapid movements almost impossible to track. It was clear he was utilizing the Time Stone to access the timestream. Wait a minute, I'm talking a bit too sciency, I think?

He suddenly collapsed to the ground, cueing us to rush to his side.

"What happened to you?" Tony asked him.

"He was using the time stone to access the timestream, I'm guessing he was trying to see the future," I answered on behalf of Strange. 

Wong knelt beside Strange, placing a steadying hand on his shoulder as he regained his composure. "Stephen, are you alright? What did you see?" Wong's tone was firm, but there was an undercurrent of worry in his voice.

Strange took a deep breath, his hands trembling slightly as he opened his eyes. "I saw... millions of outcomes," he said, his voice strained.

"How many do we win?" Tony asked, and then there was absolute silence.

"50% of the time." He answered and I sighed in relief, the rate has gone up to the canon, is it because of me, I don't know.

Tony tilted his head, a rare glimmer of hope crossing his face. "Fifty percent? That's better odds than I expected."

Strange nodded. "But the margin for error is razor-thin. If anyone deviates even slightly... we lose."

"Alright then," Tony said. "Let's make sure nobody screws this up. Especially you, Quill."

Star-Lord crossed his arms. "Hey, I can stick to a plan... as long as it doesn't suck."

Tony shot him a glare but said nothing, focusing instead on the task ahead. "Alright, let's get into position. We're out of time."