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 61 [September 2010]

–Bruce Banner–

Rage.

Looking back, that was the emotion he was most familiar with. Throughout his shitty childhood, then his very bad schooling experience, then towards the end, where he ended up working for the most stereotypical bully there could be, Rage-Anger were emotions he was most familiar with.

Anger at the unfairness of the situation. Anger at the unfairness of his life. Anger at the inability to understand others.

Sometimes he wondered, there was no wonder he turned into a raging monster capable of destroying entire cities. It must be due to the sheer rage he held within himself.

And yet, the same rage that had turned advanced reinforced military equipment into scraps without even thinking about it, the same rage that felt like a burning inferno at the time, felt so small.

It felt so small, like a barely burning ember of fire, when compared to the rage he was feeling right now. Oh, he was not green. Oh, that would not be a good thing and somehow, this time, the Other Guy seemed to agree as well, silently mirroring his rage. 

As he was now, he had two options. He could rage at the world, the unfairness of trying to snatch away someone who had just now entered his life, or, he could be there for her.

“Bruce! Snap out of it!” The Invisible Man had said to him, clearly worried for the city he held so dear but the Invisible Man had nothing to worry about, for he would not be turning into a raging monster today.

Not today.

“Good Morning, Honey. I made your favourite pancakes. The first batch burned but why don’t we just ignore them, huh?” He said with what he hoped was the appropriate amount of cheer before placing the breakfast table on Betty’s lap as she woke up.

He would have to break the news to her, one way or another. He had already informed the Invisible Man, who was his only help at this point. The good news was that man was a powerhouse for whom most of the world’s richest and most powerful would bend over backwards for. So, he was sure that if it existed in the world in any form, the Invisible Man could get it for him.

But no matter how resourceful and all present the Invisible Man might be, this was an entirely new problem, something that had never happened before. Part of him berated himself for not realising it sooner. It would never work out between someone like him and a normal human being, and yet….he lost himself in the moment.

He was just so happy to finally have someone he could call his own, and that too, without being called a monster because of the Other Guy. 

“Honey, these are delicious,”

“Thank you,”

“So, what’s up?”

He looked at Betty, “Nothing,”

“Oh please, Bruce Rober Banner, I know you better than that. Now, spill, what’s up?” Betty asked him in between mouthfuls of pancakes.

“So, you know how we have that clock that can measure gamma radiation coming off of a  person?”

“Oh yeah, that was a fun project. It looks so much better and goes with the look of the apartment now, instead of being a cheap plastic-looking thing. What about it?” She asked him with those big beautiful eyes and he had to consciously remind himself that he would have to tell her about it anyway, so there was no point in prolonging the inevitable.

“So, I was just going through the logs when….”

……

…..

“So, you think that I am pregnant with our child?” She asked him, all serious, pancakes all but forgotten.

He gulped as his mouth suddenly felt way too dry, “Yes, that is my belief as well as the Invisible Man’s but we will still be taking another look. I don’t know what is happening but the Invisible Man has assured me that…”

“Bruce! Ohmygod!” Betty hugged him as she gushed about the baby and how happy she was about everything. And how it was perfect that they were already in the safest place imaginable. They also had access to the best doctors and schools anyway, and so on and so forth.

“So, why the mopey face? Gasp! Don’t tell me, you don’t want our child, the sign of our love? Oh Bruce Robert Banner, thou art a heartless bitch!” She mockingly gasped as she pointed an accusing finger at him.

He chuckled at her antics, a tear escaping his eyes as his mind finally started to relax from the high tension it had wound itself into.

“Listen, you know about my situation and the gamma radiation coming off of you is increasing exponentially. I just want to make sure that it is safe before we get our hopes up. I’ll make something with Randall that will help identify the signs of the baby,”

“Can I come? Come on, what will I even do here? I get so bored when you leave for your boys' meetup and I have to look at daily soap, like a housewife,”

“Hey, I seem to recall someone in the labs telling me that they would prefer being a housewife if lab work was all they had to do for the rest of their life,” He teased her as he got out of bed, getting ready to head to the Lab, or rather, the Lair of the invisible Man where he kept his team locked up. It was a huge load off his shoulders that Betty was not freaking out like him. She was so calm and composed, as opposed to him.

That gave him more than enough strength to go to the lab and work his damndest hard to make sure that Betty gets what she wants. After all, isn’t that was love is all about?

GASP!

“Bruce Robert Banner, how dare you accuse me of saying something I totally did?”

Both of them looked at each other for a moment before he burst out laughing.

“Play, that one was good. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a meeting with another gamma genius extraordinaire,”

“Oh. Give Randall my regards. I am having some pregnancy cravings for French baked goods right now,”

“Honey, it is too early for you to be having pregnancy cravings -err, you know what, I will make sure that it is delivered to you within the hour,” He amended himself after being subjected to her glare.

“That’s more like the Bruce Robert Banner I know. Have fun, bye!”

He deadpanned at the liberal use of his middle name to mock him and waved back at her as he left his apartment.

Now, all that was left was to make sure that a Gamma Baby came safely out of a normal human whose body was woefully inadequately prepared for such circumstances.

Easy peasy, right?

Come on Bruce, you have always had a big head. If it is not useful at such times, what even is it useful for?

….

Soon, he reached the house in which the seven hulks were living. It was fairly large and it was also reinforced multiple times because the Hulks were not known to live delicately, at all.

“Hey Samuel, I just came to meet Randall,” He greeted Samuel who opened the door for him. Even though it would be the height of foolishness for someone to try and rob people who could bend steel, they still made sure to lock their doors.

“Yeah, he is down in the Cave, doing something. See you,” Samuel said and left for the kitchen where the rest of the Hulks were doing their preferred activities. One was reading, one was on a gaming console, one was reading a newspaper, and one was cooking for all of them.

All in all, a very odd but still functional family the seven brothers made.

If you guys would like to support my writing or just read ahead of the public release, you can head to my P*treon or Ko-fi, for upto 5 extra chapters.