8038/A Buckeye Intervention

A Buckeye Intervention
Date of Scene:	24 June 2019
Location:	Unknown
Synopsis:	Spider-Man goes out to Ohio to talk to the Hulk, and manages to convince him that the Sentinels are /not/ hunting him.
Cast of Characters:	Hulk, Spider-Man
Tinyplot:	Sentinels

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Hulk has posed:
It's been days since the Hulk wrecked a full squadron of eight Sentinels just south of New York, and he was seen leaping out into parts unknown. With the way he didn't just stop at disabling them, but turning all eight into so much material slag, it was easy to see Hulk was enraged enough that he considered the Sentinels in Central Park a serious threat. Spidey can easily infer Hulk probably thinks the Sentinels are hunting /him/, so he's hunting them first.

Still, there's been no serious damage since then, despite the recent sightings of the Jade Giant over in Baltimore, and a couple people /think/ they saw a large green 'whatever' heading north, in the direction of the Buckeye state park there... and if he left, none of the state personnel have seen it. Which means the Hulk is probably still on one of the small islands at the lake. With a lack of visual sighting, he's not walking around in the open. So he's under the cover of the forests nearby, or in a cave. Probably.

Spider-Man has posed:
It is an awkward ride down to Baltimore.

Spider-Man sitting there in his seat playing with his phone, likely a game, probably Angry Birds, while children scream and people chat. Most of those chats are, in fact, about the Cosplayer dressed like Spider-Man. "Yeah, it's accurate. I know Spidey's tailor." He's said a dozen times to mixed laughter.

When he arrives in Baltimore it's a quick trip north to the National Park. Once there, he swings absently through the forested area looking for any Giant Sign: Turned over trees, massive Hulk sized poop, a few thousand big-mac wrappers, the usual.

"Gonna go ahead and say it out loud, this was a terrible idea." He has no idea what he's even going to say to Hulk to try and calm him down and is almost completely certain that no matter what he says, he's getting his butt kicked for it.

Hulk has posed:
There are, in fact, sightings as Spidey checks around. The Hulk is a massive creature at the best of times, and since he's been in Hulk form for days now, he hasn't had a chance to 'reset' his height. There's a few tons worth of weight for any footprints, and they're so easy to follow a blind man could do it groping. Not to mention the occasional broken tree as the Hulk cleared his own way.

It all eventually leads to a cave on the northern edge of the lake. The footprints go right in... and now that Spidey has found it, he can hear the telltale echoes of a growling Hulk from the mouth.

As usual, Hulk is not being subtle in the least.

Spider-Man has posed:
"Oh good." Spidey confides with himself when he easily picks out the footprints and begins following them from on high without much difficulty. Upon reaching the mouth of the cave, he perches on a limb and just stares at the growling entrance with a little growing apprehension. "Alright... Game plan: Do not insult his torn clothes. I don't know how he feels about his terrible fashion sense, but in an inclosed area, it probably isn't best to risk it."

Obviously there's more to this plan, but Peter is more of a seat of his pants kind of guy anyways.

With everything set, he swings right into the opening, flips backwards off the line, and sticks to the side of the wall. Crawling along in the shadows as he moves deeper, "Heeeey buddy... It's Spider-M-... It's Bug man.. Remember when we beat up Sentinels together? Those were the good ol days huh?" In a quieter voice, "I wish I'd brought In and Out burgers. Peace offering. Poor planning, Spidey, poor planning."

Hulk has posed:
There's a bit of heavy breathing as he goes... within a few moments, the tunnel opens up into a fairly large chamber with muliple paths snaking around. Hulk is far too big for any of them, unless he smashed them in. So far, he seems to be... sitting? On a rather large rock outcropping. When Spidey crawls his way in, the Hulk stands up. There's no tension to his stance, no instinctual defensive posture. It seems... like acknowledgement.

"Bug man found Hulk? Hulk remembers fighting big robots with Bug Man." Hulk states in that growly voice. He starts to walk over to Spidey, hunched over slightly. Casually. "Why is bug man here? Big robots might find Hulk anytime, and Hulk will need to smash them."

Hulk still looks all sorts of angry in his demeanor... but he isn't making any aggressive moves towards Spidey. So, there's that.

Spider-Man has posed:
Spidey stays on the wall, hidden mostly, with a voice that echos and makes it a little more difficult to pinpoint exactly where he is. It isn't intentional to keep Hulk in the dark, so much as, apprehension to make sure Hulk doesn't get any ideas that Pete is here working with the robots. "Yeah, that was fun right? Remember when that explosion threw me into that car and almost broke my back? That was awesome." It was definitely not awesome.

Now directly above Hulk, clinging securely to the wall, Pete sort of sits in an upside down fashion looking straight down at the massive green Giant who's head is probably dangerously close and well within swatting range. It is a calculated risk, hopefully not a poorly calculated risk at that. "Listen buddy, I'm all for rending Sentinels into scrap, but you know they weren't, at least not before, looking for you right?" An ide occurs to him, "Remember when we first showed up and they didn't fire at us? They didn't even see us as a threat..."

Hulk has posed:
"Hulk remembers. Tin man said they weren't allowed into Avenger places. Hulk thinks they were broken. Broken robots are bad." Hulk gives a shrug as he looks around. If he knows where Spidey is, he isn't showing it... and after that, he goes back to his rock, casually walking over with soft 'thumps'. "Big robots in the city attacked Hulk for no reason. Big robots are human controlled, so government is hunting Hulk again. Hulk will SMASH them-" A fist pounds into another, letting loose a small wave of air where he is from the force, "-until they stop."

"Bug man here to help Hulk?" Hulk asks.

Spider-Man has posed:
"Kinda." Spidey doesn't bother trying to interrupt Hulk, no way can he talk over that booming voice anyways. He stays hanging out on the ceiling watching the big guy walk back to his rock with a ground shaking 'thump', "We're pals, so yeah.. if they're hunting you, I'll help you, but I don't think it's the Government behind it." His eyes narrow slightly at the top of Hulk's head.

"That'd be like inviting chaos into their world. Think about it, right? Who wants to tempt fate by poking the Big Green Machine into smashing up all their stuff? That doesn't play. It seems more likely that whoever WAS controlling THOSE Sentinels is keenly aware of the danger you represent." Furthermore, "Which means we need you back at the Mansion to help us find THAT person and smash THEM, right? That's how we get the broken robots properly broken."

Hulk has posed:
It takes a moment of silence (well, other than the Hulks heavy, angry breathing) before Spidey gets a response, "Hulk strongest there is, but humans still hunted Hulk for years. Humans can be very stupid." Hulk almost reasons out. Then, he gives a growling sigh, "Big robots didn't attack Hulk before, but big robots in park did. Bug man is saying robots in park were not controlled by humans?" The question has a very skeptical ring to it. Hulk apparently has very little trust of most people.

"Hulk was hunting big robots before they hunted him, but Hulk has not seen any since Hulk smashed the ones after park. Now Bug man is here." Hulk stands up, as if resolved in something. "Hulk knows Bug Man is friend. If Bug Man thinks big robots are not going to attack Hulk, Hulk will trust Bug Man." He starts to walk over to the tunnel out into the park.

Spider-Man has posed:
"Yeah, people are pretty stupid sometimes, especially when they're scared of something they don't understand." Spidey says quietly, but in the cave it's a lot loud due to the accustics. When Hulk stands to leave, Pete tempts fate by dangling down to drop towards Hulk's shoulder as if he intends to perch their.

"I don't think they're sending the Sentinels to attack you, but if they do, I promise I'll help you smash them. I don't really like the big Robots, I don't care who's controlling them. They are hunting my friends, and you're my friend, so if they're hunting you too... well heck, that's just one more reason to give them a swift kick in the metal keister amirite?"

Hulk has posed:
"Hulk understands Bug Man." Hulk, in fact, let's Spidey ride on his shoulder. He's more than big enough for it, being fifteen feet high with massive shoulders. "Hulk doesn't wait for humans to hunt him, when they do. Hulk was waiting to see if big robots could find him here."

Once they're out on daylight, those 'thumps' become much more pronounced without the solid rock to 'cushion' him. Hulks feet make small craters as they go. "Hulk will go back to Avengers soon..." Hulk states, a bit sleepily. In a moment, Spidey will start to feel heat and steam coming off of the Hulk... and his height diminishing.

Spider-Man has posed:
Spidey is relieved that he is not flung off like a flea from a dogs back and happily rides Hulk's shoulder out into the sun beating through the overhead coverage when they exit the cave into the mid afternoon sun. "I'll call in a pickup if you want? We could stop by an In and Out burger on the way, yeah? I'm sure you're staved. I should have brought burgers."

He's still lamenting that decision and not at all because he is starving.

Feeling the heat rise off the massive Giant and the seat beneath him shrinking, Spidey pushes off with his hands into a backwards flip against the side of a tree so as not to add that extra weight as, he assumes, Hulk returns to Bruce shape. "Rain check on the burgers, you sound exhausted. Best not to sleep after bulking carbs."

Hulk has posed:
Truth be told, it doesn't take very long. Hulk was being driven by his rage against the Sentinels, and now that he genuinely believes it was a misunderstanding, the drive is gone. Soon, the Hulk is stumbling as he goes. Twelve feet... ten feet, "Hulk hate big robots, but will smash them later." Is the final words of Hulk before his skin starts to look pink hued. Eight feet.

A few seconds later, and a Bruce Banner in tattered stretchy jeans can be seen as he stumbles from his feet onto his hands. "A... park?" Bruce talks to himself, reasoning out where he is as he glances around. "A park of some kind... but not central park."

He doesn't seem to have seen Spidey, yet.

Spider-Man has posed:
This is kind of an interesting occurance for a scientist, the change from Hulk to Bruce Banner. Spidey watches with widening mask eyes as the hulking monster turns into a mild mannered scientist in his own right, "Well that was a heck of a thing." He says from the side of a tree a few feet up above Banner.

It's probably not the way to hear he's not alone, but Pete follows it up by crawling down a few feet and then bending over into a crouch on the ground nearer to Bruce with his hands up patting the air, "Don't be alarmed, I'm not a real Spider." He knows that, he even knows that Bruce knows that. "I came looking for you when you started smashing up Sentinels in Central Park. You're in Buckeye National Park..." Said as he reaches for his communicator to call in a Quinjet, "Going to get you a ride back to the Mansion... maybe a change of clothes too, huh? You into Norstroms?"

Hulk has posed:
Bruce is a real mess, and it shows. The transformation must take a lot out of him, especially when he spends days (There have been reports of him staying Hulk form for weeks too. That must be seriously rough) trapped in his own body. A glance up to Spidey, a glance down over him. "Right.... Spider-Man. I don't believe I've had the pleasure of meeting you until now." Bruce offers in greetings. He might not have heard 'heck of a thing'. Or he might have, and is just getting his bearings enough to not care. "I'm Doctor Bruce Banner..." A beat, "As you probably already know." Yeah, of course he does, Bruce! It's been a long time since the gamma bomb.

"I'm... not quite sure why I'm out here, but I assume Hulk was fighting the Sentinels after the park. I saw on their network they were going to go reinforce the protest, and I panicked when I realized what was going on. What happened?" Bruce stands up, his arms crossing over his chest as he tries to warm himself up, looking to Spider-Man.

It tends to be cold on and around lakes, after all.

Spider-Man has posed:
"Wish I'd brought along a coat or something. In hindsight, I'll bring a blanket." Spidey says part to Bruce and part to himself, a little mental checklist. "Well..." Pete leans his shoulders back against the tree from his crouch, where he looks pretty comfortable despite how painful staying in that position can be, and watches Bruce. "First things first, I'm a huge fan.. I dabble in science myself and your work is incredible. I feel like I should get the fanboi stuff out the way before we get on a jet. Don't want you getting weirded out by my awkward staring."

Now that he's handled that.

"Okay, so, me and Hulk smashed some sentinels at the Avengers facility, which I'm sure you heard about. When the protestors were attacked, Hulk went full hulk on them, and then came down here to see if they were going to track him. I think he thought that they were out to get him." He somehow manages to make it sound like that's totally reasonable. At least, he doesn't sound dismissive of the notion. "I came down this way looking for him to try and calm him down and get you both back to the Mansion without him going all the way to D.C. to destroy the White House or something... I don't know what he planned, but it didn't sound very good for the United States."

Hulk has posed:
There's a small smile, before he offers his hand to Spider-Man. "It's been a long time since anyone but Stark respected my expertise... and I wish it was that that I'm going to be remembered for." Bruce says, sadly, before he firmly shakes the hand, "The Other Guy overreacts as a self-defense mechanism. He's been like that since he was 'born'." Bruce muses... "That he listened to you at all is a miracle in itself. I guess he really does trust the Avengers."

"I'd be happy to discuss science with you, if you're interested, when we get back to New York. I've been working on a potential way to separate me and The Other Guy, and I could use some peer review on it, if you're open." Bruce inquires.

Spider-Man has posed:
"Listen, I don't know a whole lot about psychology, but I don-... Eh, nevermind. We can talk about it again some other time.. You've had a long few days." Spidey leans forward onto his palm and extends his hand out to accept Bruce's for a single shake, "Hey, yeah totally. I actually did a paper on your work my senior year in High School."

Which probably isn't saying a lot, except that Bruce is old.

And that Peter didn't have many friends.

"I'd love to talk science though!" Literally always, if we're being honest. "I really don't mind the Hulk so much, if it helps? I know he can be kind of..." Demonstrating by slamming his fists into the ground lightly, "Gorillaish, but he means well. Looking out for you by looking out for himself. He's like a big child who can throw trucks at other trucks... or hit a person with another person."

Hulk has posed:
"That's... one way of looking at it." Said in a very neutral tone. Bruce has always hated the Hulk, and vice versa, even if they depend on one another at this point. "He's very self interested, and I can't blame him for that after being hunted so long." Bruce moves to sit down at a nearby tree stump himself as he surveys the path the Hulk took, "Guess he came here from elsewhere, not by leaping." Bruce muses aloud, before he looks back to Spider-Man.

"I'll be happy to talk science with you then. I do enjoy teaching." Bruce smiles at Spidey.

Spider-Man has posed:
"I've always been told I have an odd way of looking at things... Actually, I think the exact verbage was; Spider-Man, you're odd.. but I'm a glass is half full kind of guy and I chose to see the silver lining." Spidey doesn't blanch one bit, but remains resting on his laurels watching Bruce settle onto the stump.

At mention of the Hulk's path, he too glances along the trail he easily followed to where the green monster was hiding, "In a way, he's looking out for you too. And honestly, you've been looking out for him, even if that's not exactly the way you see it, but that's besides the point. It's kind of a metaphysical self interest piece and I admit it's the news writer in me."

It's hard to tell that he's grinning behind his mask. Especially when he's glance up at the wind spreading the limbs above them as a Quinjet begins to settle down to take them back to the mansion. "After you, Doctor Banner." Motioning to the now open hatch, "You can get some rest on the way back and I'll bombard you with questions once you've had something to eat."