Red Hulk: Frozen Planet, Frozen Heart

“ Awooooooo! Grrr-aaaarrr!”

“Master Russell, how many times have I and the rest of the team urged you to COVER YOUR MOUTH when you yawn? Those teeth of yours make an old bag of bones like me want to dry up and fall apart like…like…”

“Pick-up sticks?”

“Yes, exactly that!”

The yawning culprit, a shaggy werewolf, rolled his glinting yellow eyes mockingly at his partner. The partner in question? An aged mummy who, at times like this, wanted nothing more than to curl up in his nice, silky sarcophagus and sleep for an eternity. Instead, the mummy rubbed the leathery skin of his eyes, trying really hard not to hex the dog man sitting in front of him.

“Look, I came up here to find out from Master Vampire if anything’s on the censors. I didn’t come up here to discuss noises and the way bodies are supposed to behave. Believe me, I’d rather not get into an argument over a discussion like that.”

The werewolf lifted up his lip in a mild smirk; particularly evil looking when you saw his fangs shining in the dim light of an old laboratory.

“Well, lucky for you Rags-A-Plenty, I was busy checking out the censors with the sheer thought that Dracubilly might get angsty about them. So far, nothing’s goin’ on…wait a sec…”

The two monsters quickly looked closer at one of the surveillance screens in front of them. Out of 10, 9 seemed fine, showing various places, like a marsh, the inside of a sewer drain, a small river and Lake, etc. However, the last one was shaking, the screen coated in what looked like frost. A large figure walked past the frosted camera, and, despite the thick cover stopped and appeared to look at the eye on the wall. It then turned and started walking forwards, ignoring the device as it went along. The werewolf gripped his chair tightly, sharp black claws punching through the cushions like pins in a new dress.

“W-what was that, Mummra?”

“I do not know Jack. Could it have been a spectre?”

The werewolf shook his head.

“There would have been residue left over on the ultraviolet. And it keeps its shape in infrared. But…it’s ice blue! Like, if it was that ice kid that that Logan guy knows ‘bout.”

This time the mummy shook his head.

“His core would have been lit up warmer than his eternal body. And this..THING…was easily 3 times the size of any normal human, mutant or otherwise.I vote we send Manphibian to see what it is-"

“No way, toilet paper face. If one goes, we all go. You included. Unless of course you a big scaredy chicken who’s afraid to go to bed without his mummy cooing to him about scarabs and coyotes and junk.”

The mummy’s eyes glowed a dark red, sparks flying out.

“ Forget the fish then. You and me, we go. Unless you are the individual too “scaredy” to go and find this abomination?”

But the werewolf was already out the door. The mummy sighed and stiffly followed him, careful to wrap his arms linens tightly to keep them from getting wet in the dark, watery tunnels in front of them.

The two monsters followed the water ways, a series of tunnels that was, in places, knee deep in brackish water. Occasionally, a pair of eyes would blink at them from the shadows, scaring the two witless on occasion. Finally, Jack the werewolf discovered the camera that was frozen. It had started to thaw, but they noticed that it looked as if something big had grabbed it, freezing it at the same time.

“Fingers went here. Blimey, whatever gripped this must’ve been wearing ice gripper gloves.”

“Or had an enchantment on his to exercise ice abilities. There are tracks on that patch of dirt up ahead…”

The air was cold, and the waters where growing colder still. The mummy wrapped himself tighter in his linens while the werewolf continued on, his fur able to repel the penetrating cold that not even the undead could. Crouching down, he saw that the water had begun to freeze into a thick, glassy design. The walls where chipped and caked with icicles, some as long as a human arm. In between the ice though, where footprints unaffected by the ice. It was as if the foot had radiated the ice from it as it propelled forward the massive body it was attached to.

Then the wolf noticed something odd about the footprints….

“Mummy, look at this. Whatever froze this place…it was barefoot. What generates a radiation like this?”

“It could have been the Red Hulk. He was here a short time ago-“

“But he generates heat and gamma. This generates ice…something is very, very wrong here…”

Suddenly the echoing tunnels stilled; nothing made a sound, only the heartbeat of the werewolf made any noise.

Growls began to happen, deep…almost human. The shadows began to seemingly shift around the two monsters. A huge pair of eyes, one glowing white, while the other a dark, blood red, peered from the darkness. A thin laugh, the sound painful as it was horrific and insane began to build until it became a cacophony of sound that threw back the wolf man.

“Aw frag! That’s hurts like a cat on a hot tin….Mums? Where are you-“

A severed head, the mummy’s, was thrown at him. The mummy was still alive, being a zombie after all, but all it could do was blink and click its jaws, its throat frozen and broken in half. The mummy head kept on looking behind the werewolf, a whistling noise escaping its shattered neck. Before the werewolf could react, a chilled hand grabbed him by the neck, throttling him in the dark. He tried to bite the fingers, but his teeth cracked at the hardness of the skin....like thick slabs of ice. He could feel ice shooting up his body, his veins freezing in mid-flow. His hair cracked and fell off, broken like winter leaves. As his eyes began to glisten with ice, the werewolf saw the figure freezing him alive. A massive creature, built like a man.

But white all over. Hair like ice, but eyes....mismatched eyes that belonged to a devil. A devil from the deepest reaches of Hell....

I'm not sure about this. You have obvious Marvel monsters in this (Werewolf by Night) but a distinct lack of Red Hulk, but that is too set the whole story up. This is possibly the silliest and worst comment ever, my apologies for my rambling. It's well written but not for me

@4donkeyjohnson:

Red Hulk will be in the story, don't you fret. But I tend to build an environment in the story before introducing the characters that will be a big influence in the story later on. Most likely I'll add in Red Hulk by next chapter, as the ice creature is better explored and revealed (hint: it's not a Jotun.)

Way to take the off path. I love the marvel monsters.

@tmacximas:

Lol, it''s 'cuz of Jeff Parker I got into them. I'm really tempted to make them a bigger part of the story, and maybe throw a few surprises along their way.

(2nd chapter is up.)

“Jack! Can you hear me?! JACK!”

The werewolf’s shot his eyes open. Standing in front of him where a deathly looking vampire, a green scaled amphibious creature and the mangled head of the mummy sitting on a chair. He looked down and saw that most of his fur was gone, shaved off.

However, around his neck, was another matter.

Huge purple bruises shaped like fingers had encircled his neck, giving him welts. But that wasn’t the scary part. The entire gripped skin was purple; the grip had given him frostbite. It was through a miracle that he hadn’t died from infection.

The rest of his chest was covered in tight bandages, and most of his fur was mottled and caked in frost and blood.

“W-what happened? Why did you guys wrap me up? Oh Galactus…don’t tell me I’m promoted to the mummy department…”

The vampire’s lip shifted lightly in a small grin, but his red eyes shown intense stress and worry. He sighed lightly, a wispy noise that sounded like a winter breeze.

“N’ Kantu send us a mind message about what happened. When Manphibian reached to your location, he found both of you mangled for wear. Luckily for the mummy, he’s been though worse. But you, my friend, are still mortal. You can die before any of the rest of us turns millennia old.”

A voice whispered in the werewolf’s head, and he turned and saw that the mummy’s dis-articulated head’s eyes where glowing a sharp magenta.

Honestly I am over 3,000 years old, which makes your point moot, Master Morbius. But I am afraid we have more pressing issues at hand than comparing our mortality rates-

A massive crashing noise ricocheted though the lab, echoing into the tunnels. Several metallic scraping sounds where heard as something massive was moved. A trumpeting roar followed, a sick noise that was full of hate…and glee.

The werewolf tried to scramble out of the makeshift bed he lay on, but the Manphibian pushed him down.

“Aaargh! That freak froze me solid and is still out there! Why didn’t you guys go after him instead of babying me like some kind of puppy?!”

The vampire’s eyes flared.

“All the sensors where fried. We thought that it had moved down the tubes far away from us. We were caring more about a team member than some beast.”

“ Well Dracubilly, then what do you expect made that racket? While you three are just waiting for me to shake my tail, that thing is destroying everything this team has worked their buns off to create and maintain. Now if you excuse me…”

Werewolf by Night tried to swing out of the bed, but squealed in pain as his neck his a short metal bar. The weakened wolf collapsed backwards, his hind paw shaking in the excruciating pain. Manphibian wrapped a blanket round him.

“ Sssss….big doggy wantsss to tag along, but he’sss jussst a pup. Morbiusss and I will go. You and the ssskull watch out for thingssss here.”

Morbius grabbed the ends of his ragged cloak and wrapped himself and the swamp beast in its folds. The two de-materialized in a smoke, and they vanished. Werewolf by Night could only grow and lay back, his arms wrapped around his chest, all the while being stared at by a body-less mummy with nothing to say.

Morbius and Manphibian materialized down the tunnels, a bit farther ahead of the lab than before. They could see that the frost creature had been there, ice footprints coating the usually moss filled floor and icicles melting rapidly and dangerously above their heads.

The amphibian crouched low, hissing slightly at a shadow around the bend. The bend went straight into a large, closed off brick area, probably from an old electricians’ room. A soft hum could be heard.

“The power generator….it ssssuppliess all the energy for the devicesss…”

“Yes….but it also holds...”

A shuddering roar ripped through them, knocking the two to the moist ground. The walls where then crushed as the huge thing tore into them, and the squealing of steel and electricity sounded.

Morbius’ red eyes flared open.

“It’s after the spectre absorber…the Mack daddy of the sucker we have in the laboratory! We have to stop it before it does anything to the device!”

Both monsters hissed and jumped through the ruining rock walls and into the machine room. In front of them was the creature that had nearly killed their friends. White and bulky, it chilled even the hardened Morbius to the bone. In its huge hands was the large spectre absorber, blinking red in alarm, its wires dancing in static around the creature. The beast raised its pale lip and bared a massive canine in warning.

“Drop the ray freak, and you can get out alive. Even after what you did to Jack Russell and N’Kantu.”

The Manphibian hissed in hate.

“ Alive? Why bother with that? It’ll be…rewarding…for me to feassst on hisss remainsss while hiss heart pumpsss itsss lassst…”

The beast started laughing, first slowly, then building. The noise began to cause rock remnants to cascade down on the monsters. It then began to speak, it’s voice silky and manipulative despite its hideous humanoid appearance.

“You expect a thing like me to fear an albino and a frog? I have killed things you two wouldn’t even dare mention in a conversation with the devil himself. I have killed a civilization, or I will, once I get this thing out of here.”

A flash occurred and the white beast snarled in pain. Werewolf by Night, whining in pain and anger, holding the mummy’s head in his claws. Blood dripped from his open hand and splattered on the torn bandages dangling from his arms.

“Sorry, but the mummy was giving me the silent treatment. Now you crazy butt white jerk, you’re gonna wish you never fudged with us.”

The monsters started closing in on the beast, but the monster just kept on laughing.

“You four just don’t understand, do you? There is nothing that can hurt me! NOTHING! I was going to leave you alone, but since you amuse me so, I’ll leave you all with a farewell message.”

With a roar, he slammed his foot down onto the floor. The shockwave cracked open he rock and split the ground, causing fractures. Before the Legion of Monsters could move, the ground below them collapsed and they all fell inside, disappearing into the inky blackness. The white monster continued to laugh, his body radiating ice all over the room and coating the cracked ground. His laughs continued to echo throughout the tunnels, scaring the mutations into hiding. This was no ordinary creature of malice. It could speak. And my speaking, it could think. And thinking for a monster was a very, very deadly thing.

Yes. Like it. Bring on the next chapter.

@tmacximas:

Lol, I'll get right on it then. :)

@Necrotic_Lycanthrope Don't play man. The shrimp guy already broke my heart. lol.

@tmacximas:

Lol :D

Anything in particular you might like seeing in the next or future chapters?

(3rd chapter up :D)

“Strange, I have better things to do with my life than hike underground for a bunch of Universal Monsters…in heels! You could have told me the terrain was crap, so as I could’ve dressed appropriately.”

Snarling under her breath, a tall red woman dressed in a black dress with high heels kicked aside several boulders as she made her way through the fallen rocks that was once the Monster Metropolis. Following in her tracks was a much smaller regular looking man, white striped side burns and wearing old Japanese styled cloak and robe as the two climbed their way through the ruins.

“I’m sorry Red She-Hulk. N’Kantu nearly blew half of my brain off trying to call in for help, and the other members are off in Africa visiting Black Panther and Storm. Well…except for Silver Surfer. I think he’s having a reunion with Galactus or something.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah. Silver spoon is up in the air, the others are relaxing probably in the Cape of Good Hope and me ,being too stupid as a human to do anything right, decided to stay here with you. I just hope this little ‘job’ of yours isn’t going to cost me this month’s paycheck for a new pair of shoes…”

The red lady gripped a massive boulder and tossed it aside like it was a pebble. In front of them was the hole that the monsters had been trapped in by the albino creature. Everything electrical in the room had been destroyed by the aftershocks of its attack….save for the device stolen. Doctor Strange looked deep into the hole and could vaguely make out the glow of something bio-luminescent in the shadows.

“Thank the spirits that Manphibian was given the color scheme of an angler fish…Morbius! Mr. Russell! Are you alright down there?!”

Coughing was heard, and the rustling of some debris. Werewolf by Night’s shaky voice was heard.

“Doc? That you? Oh, we’re just peachy down here. Nothing beats spending your summer vacation in a dank hole in the middle of a sewer system.”

“Stay where you are. I’ll lift you all out with a celestial orb.”

Lifting a glove hand, the doctor started chanting in an ancient Latin-based language. His eyes glowed red and a blue light emanated from his outstretched hand. The dark chasm in front of the two rescuers glowed blue and grew brighter as it ascended upwards towards the brim. In the lighted orb was the injured group of monsters, broken, but not dead yet. The most severely wounded was Manphibian, who’s clawed hands hand been crushed by the falling rock. Red She-Hulk helped bandage up the amphibian’s hands with some gauze she had and helped the others onto solid ground.

“And here I thought it was going to be a righteous bore. What happened to you guys? Did you decide to build a basement or something?”

Morbius grimaced, holding a pale hand to his side as the bruises on his skin started to fade, his rapid vampire regeneration fixing his injuries much faster than those of his peers.

“We were attacked, first Jack and N’Kantu, then me and Manphibian. I thought at first it was yet another ogre having lost its way into the canals…but this thing…it wasn’t anything like that. Not even close.”

Red She-Hulk brushed a few crumbs of rock from Morbius’ cloak, a human glow forming in her usually angry yellow eyes.

“What did it look like? By the looks of things here, it didn’t exactly stop by to chat about the weather, either.”

Morbius smiled slightly, but his eyes shown with sadness. He was always a bit melancholic, especially when compared to other more traditional vampires. But this time, he felt responsible for his team’s near destruction. He was the leader. It was up to him to stop stuff like this from happening. N’Kantu’s eyes glowed magenta and the severed mummy’s head proceeded to answer in place of the vampire.

It was massive, easily the length of a fully grown female Nile crocodile, or else 8-9 feet, by your numerical systems. It was also white all over, like snow. It even left frost all over the place, and it nearly killed Master Russell with its touch. It then proceeded to steal the spectre absorber, a large device we use to absorb high powered demons and ghosts from the tormented bodies of their victims. It’s their containment chamber before we exorcise them and send them back to the 3 dimension.

Red She-Hulk bit her lip slightly.

“White and frost? Are you sure it wasn’t a Jotun, or whatever the heck those snow things Thor fights all the time are called. Why call us and not The Avengers? Asgaard stuff is their field.”

The mummy’s eyes flashed, glowing stronger in frustration.

It was no Asgaardian threat. This creature…there is no words to describe it for what it was. When I saw it, I couldn’t believe what it looked like to be. But why describe it when I can show it to you?

The mummy’s eyes flashed and an image appeared, almost like a hologram. Despite colored in a red wash, the creature shown was unmistakably white. Like a surveillance camera, the psychic hologram played several of the behaviors seen by the beast, before freezing on a close-up of its face. Red She-Hulk gasped, her hand covering her mouth in shock. Doctor Strange looked at her with concern.

“What is it? What’s wrong?!”

Tears dripped down the she-hulk’s face as she pulled her hand away.

“It…it…it looks like my dad. He looks just like my dad when he first joined the air force as a kid. He looks just like my dad…he looks just like Red Hulk…”

The group could only stare at the image; now without the anonymity fear gave to attackers. Sharp fangs bore as he laughed, they could only look and stare. Stare in fear and shock.

Awesome chapter. Is Man-Thing going to have a cameo?

@tmacximas:

Wasn't planning it, but I might try squeezing him into a tiny cameo if you want.

@Necrotic_Lycanthrope No,no no. I was just making conversation. Don't alter the story on my comment. I like the reunion joke by the way.

@tmacximas:

Lol, thanks.

Well what else does Surfer do everytime Galactus appears?

(that's a joke question, not literal XD)

@Necrotic_Lycanthrope Read your chapter of the "partner game". good stuff.

@tmacximas:

Thanks! Hopefully I can continue this story and the chapter game as well lol. (hope to add in a new chapter to this story later today)

Love it.

TheCannon said:

Love it.

@Necrotic_Lycanthrope

(Chapter 4 posted up)

Thaddeus…Come Here Thaddeus. We Just Want to Taaaaaaaaaaaalk.

A grizzled older man, eyes jet blue and hair spiked and white with age ran like his life depended on it. Corridor after corridor flashed before him, endless doors leading to nowhere with continuous halls.

You Can’t Run From US Thaddeus! We Live Within You! We Rule Everything About You!

The man continued to run, his eyes scanning for an exit. An open door. Something to help him. A thundering stomp behind him nearly tossed him to the ground, and he felt hot, wet breath breathing down his neck. Something big, nasty…villainous. It wanted him, but toyed with its prey, like a cat to a mouse.

You wanted the power…you wanted all the power in the world! But we hold the power! It’s only through us that you are still alive!

A bellow hit the enclosed area, rocketing like a wave. The man stumbled, his ears bleeding from the impact of the sound. He turned around only to be flung into a wall, the impact breaking a chunk of stone. He stumbled back onto shaky legs, sweat dripping down his face and onto his moustache, his eyes dilated in fear, but also rage. He bared his teeth at the darkness, his canines clicking.

“Whatever you are, get out here! Face me like a man you coward!”

The darkness loomed closer, more engulfing. A shuddering laugh lurked, eyes blazing yellow shown into the lighted area like those of a demon. The older man’s eyes shrank even more, and he tried to walk backwards, only to hit a door. The shadow receded as a clawed red hand, the knuckles bent like that of an ant-eater, reached out and slammed onto the solid rock ground, cracking the stone as if it was plastic.

You don’t believe us when we say we have the power. Try to change. We dare you. We’ll Only Kill You Faster If You Do So.

The creature inside the darkness lowered its head out of the shadow, staring at its prey. While humanoid in build, the eyes where tiny gems glinting in a mass of red muscle. Sharp bat ears stood erect on either side of the head, as a black Mohawk covered its ridged skull. The jaws where massive and hinged, huge teeth and fangs unable to fit inside the closed mouth. The serpent end of a dark tongue flicked in between the cramped quarters of the mesh of fangs bulging out of the jaws of the beast.

How do you like us Thaddeus? This is what you become, what you see when you change. You thought that only the green slime held a monster inside his loins, but no. You hold one too. And it’s ready to come out.

The creature’s hot breath, the stench of it like a rotten tomb, engulfed the man as the long tongue spilled out of the crooked jaws, licking him lazily and leaving a tingly trail of slime across his skin. The clawed hand gripped the wall, as the head drew even closer. Thaddeus glared in hate at the monster as the gold eyes scanned his body, hungrily examining him.

“You b******s are nothing like me, and neither is this freak. I have the power, I control it. You guys are just a punch of nightmares. And all it takes is a good beatdown to makes you guys get back into your hole.”

With surprising speed, Thaddeus grabbed the monster’s tongue and tore it out, the flesh ripping and spurting hot yellow blood. Some of the blood hit the man’s hand and it burned, leaving marks. But he was used to pain…he endured it every moment he breathed. The creature howled as blood gushed from its hooked jaws, swinging its head in pain. Thad managed to slip underneath the massive arm of the beast, and began running through the halls. The creature screamed its rage, sniffing the air to try to find him.

You can’t hide from US Thaddeus! We are you and so is this place! You can never HIDE FROM US!

Suddenly a hooked claw swung, tripping Thaddeus. He flipped over to see the monster, its jaws opened and dripping in gore hunching at him like a massive ape. If he tried to move, a claw would swipe, slashing him.

“F***er, I’m not dead yet. You just called out the beast for a fight.”

Closing his eyes, he tried to concentrate, the mental image of a huge, red behemoth forming in his mind.

But nothing happened.

Panicked, he tried again. But still nothing happened. The creature laughed, it’s ears shaking like those on a dog.

You want the beast? Well, the beast doesn’t obey you anymore. It obeys us. And we say…come on out. See what you really look like.

A jagged pain ripped through the man’s body, his bones creaking. He looked down and saw that his bones where re-arranging, the muscles between the bones swelling as his skin blushed and darkened.

But something was horribly wrong. The pain was never this bad, this intense. This…murderous. Lifting up his hands, he saw blood pooling from his fingernails as his nails cracked, massive black talons forcing their way out like new teeth. He howled in pain as his back quaked, his spine growing and elongating, the bones pushing through his skin until he had bony vertebrae plates sticking out. His ribs shifted and broke, re-attaching and breaking again.

He no longer could see the monster, but as he stared at the pooled yellow blood underneath him, he saw….something. Not the Red Hulk. But something far worse. The last of the humanity left his face as his jaws widened, spilling out multiple tongues and teeth. His eyes glowed orange and black, before his own reflection, no longer human. But a monster.

With the last of his strength, he screamed, his voice erupting out into the hallways as it shifted into howls of a super predator.

@Necrotic_Lycanthrope Fantastic. My only complaint: You always leave me wanting more. great chapter. And if its not to early to say this, I cannot wait till the next one.

@tmacximas said:

@Necrotic_Lycanthrope Fantastic. My only complaint: You always leave me wanting more. great chapter. And if its not to early to say this, I cannot wait till the next one.

I agree with this post. I probably would of posted something similar, just worded a bit differently.

@TheCannon:

@tmacximas:

Lol at you both. I'll try writing something to sate your hunger.

@TheCannon said:

@tmacximas said:

@Necrotic_Lycanthrope Fantastic. My only complaint: You always leave me wanting more. great chapter. And if its not to early to say this, I cannot wait till the next one.

I agree with this post. I probably would of posted something similar, just worded a bit differently.

Yeah im a gusher, what can i say?

@tmacximas:

Lol.

I will give you a hint for the end, if I manage to get that far: Ross and Betty aren't the only ones in the family with an obsession for power.

@Necrotic_Lycanthrope said:

@tmacximas:

Lol.

I will give you a hint for the end, if I manage to get that far: Ross and Betty aren't the only ones in the family with an obsession for power.

Tease.

@tmacximas:

Muahaha. >:D

Another hint: How many kinds of shapeshifters does it take to take over the world?

(Chapter 5 posted up. Technically 3 chapters, but I just joined them together cause I know you guys are impatient boobs. :P Hope you like it.)

“AHH! Jesus Lord don’t turn me into that thing!”

Thaddeus E. Ross nearly jumped out of his bed, his heart racing a mile a minute. His body shook as his hands nearly tore the blanket he held in half. A muffled groan next to him made him remember that he wasn’t alone.

“Thad? Geez babe, what are you doing? Are you okay?”

“Y-yeah, I’m okay. J-just another…another nightmare. This time in a hall.”

A very pretty lady popped her head out of the sheets of the bed, her light auburn hair tussled and her brown eyes half asleep. Despite the late hour, worry was obviously written all over her face.

“That’s the 3 one this week. You aren’t getting enough sleep, and your outbursts certainly aren’t helping me in bed either.”

Ross smirked a little, but it was a tired smile.

“I guess it’s stress or something; ever since the X-guys went bonkers I’ve been driving myself up the wall and through the window.”

The girl wrapped her arms around his stomach and chest, hugging him.

“It’s okay. We’ll figure it out. Don’t tell me that a bad dream is what finally does in a big scary hulk.”

“Heh, I hope not, or else the kids out there will really make fun of me.”

Slipping back under the sheets, Ross pulled the blanket over himself, wrapping his arms around his girl as they both drifted off. Unbeknownst to him, the shadows in the room warped. His shadow grew, stretching off of his form and onto the wall. Yellow gleaming orbs shone in the darkness, slanting in glee as a hole formed, revealing massive fangs as they stretched into a hideous smile.

Alas Thaddeus, your time is short…. Sleep now, and forever hold your peace…in your hands…. as I devour your corpse to suit my own….

----------------------------------------------

Morning came around, and Thaddeus Ross was wrecked. He couldn’t stay asleep, and he just sat at a table, a robe lazily wrapped around his frame as he rested his head against his hands. Suddenly, he sound of coffee being poured into a cup drew his attention, and he looked up. His girl, Annie, equally as tired, but able to hide it better than him, smiled down at her man, filling a cup with hot caffeine.

“Here you go Rulky. You need it way more than us poor LMDs do.”

Thaddeus gripped the coffee with his hands, his back shivering in the exhaustion of not sleeping enough. Annie sat down across from him, genuine worry in her gaze.

“Gee you don’t look great. It’s like back in the Fortean thing, but at least your Hulk side could function better. Speaking of, when was the last time you hulked out anyways?”

Ross, shaking, looked at her, his eyes bloodshot.

“I haven’t turned in 2 weeks. It’s just that every time I do…I feel…weird. Like…faded. I don’t want to turn back human. I want to stay…in...THAT form. And when I do go back, I feel beaten up. I don’t feel as fresh as I usually do.”

“Hmm, maybe your age is finally showing, even in Hulk form. I gotta give Bruce a heads-up about that next time he’s around. I do have an idea to get you out of this base for a few hours without going all red rage monster on me. You and I are going shopping.”

Ross nearly choked on his coffee, coughing hard at the words with a bewildered expression.

“Did I just hear what I think I heard you say?”

Annie smiled and rubbed his head, messing his short white hair even more.

“You bet your gamma ass I did. Now get dressed, we’ll be heading out in an hour. I already told Steve, and he gave the go ahead.”

She got up and left the room, leaving Ross behind to figure out just what happened. Annie stuck her head back out into the room.

“Oh, and your clothes are on the shelf where you keep your Captain America trading cards. Just in case you forgot.”

She left this time for good and Ross slammed his head into the table, groaning.

----------------------------------------------------------------

Ross and Annie where in the middle of a small mall in an area close to the Nevada border, both wearing light clothing due to the heat. Ross insisted on having a hat and shades to conceal his identity, even though not everyone knew his appearance from his days as a 3 star General.

“Hey Thad, can you spot where the kitchen appliances are? Chad the new LMD cook asked me to pick him up a waffle maker.”

Ross pulled his glasses to the edge of his nose, uncovering his eyes. His pupils dilated and his iris glowed yellow for a few seconds, his vision magnifying as he tapped into his hulk energy.

“The maker thing’s on the other side of this stretch, by the red sign with the grill on it. Oh, and act fast; thing’s on sale for half price.”

Annie rushed to reach the waffle makers before other greedy females saw it, while Ross stayed behind. He smirked slightly, then rubbed his forehead with his thumb and index finger, a sharp pain coursing through him.

Poor, poor Thaddy Elliot Ross. Does your head hurt at all? Or are you just imagining things?

Ross looked up, trying to find the source of the voice. But then something happened. All the people that where carting their items suddenly stopped…and looked at him. Everyone just stopped and stared. The babies that had been crying before abruptly ended, and the babies looked at him. Some had little pacifiers in their mouths, held still as if everyone was in a trance. A sharper pain hit Ross again, this time in his joints. His body began to shake, his skin heating up despite his loose shirt and pants. The world began to slow down, sound distorting, deepening and waving. His body shook harder, his nails scratching at the hard marble floor as he dropped to his knees.

The pain is intense, is it not? You who kept us in chains. Now you will know our pain as we have fun in your open realms.

The people’s faces began to warp, growing and shrinking as the colors blended, darkening. Their faces stretched, jaws increasing with dark shadows vomiting out of their expanding orifices. The hands of the people stretched, clawed. The skin darkened and fell off, rotten and showing dripping layers of fat and green tinged rotting muscle, dark blood smeared along the palms as drops fell to the floor along with the shedding flesh. Annie came running to him, her motions lowed and uneven. He felt her hands grab him by the neck of his shirt, her frantic yells distorted and unintelligible. Pain gripped his body as he slowly lifted a hand to her face.

“Annie…go...please...I can’t...hold…baacckkk…..”

His voice deepened and his vision faded as his hand clenched over her face, gripping it tight. Annie managed to tear his hand off of her mouth, only to back off as she watched in horror what was happening.

Ross’s eyes bulged, his irises glowing a bright yellow. His skin began to darken into red, his body shaking rapidly as if he was having a seizure. His bones visibly shifted under his skin as muscle built on top of existing muscle. The people began to scream and run as Ross lifted his head, his eyes yellow and without an ounce of humanity in them. He opened his jaws and snarled as his teeth began to fall out, massive versions of them rapidly replacing the popped teeth. His canines alone where so massive that they kept his mouth hinged open and drooling. Annie grabbed Ross by the shoulders, shaking him, despite people behind trying to pull her back.

“Red! Fight the Red! You can do it, I know you can! You can hold it back! Please! If you’re still in there, listen to me!”

Ross twisted his head, his skull beginning to stretch as he stared at her. Annie could see his body hair beginning to fall out in places, his moustache in particular was fading away into the skin. A low moaning sound emanated from him, and a shocked look passed fleetingly…before a monstrous grin stretched across his jaws. With a swipe, he knocked her back into a group of on-lookers too shocked to move.

Beast, these are too small to sate your hunger with. Go out, be free, your time has come!

A roar issued out of what was possessing Ross as his body grew, bigger and bigger by each heartbeat. His clothes tore into shreds as his muscle mass tripled, his spine stretching and becoming jagged, like visible boney bumps underneath the rolling red skin. The creature snarled, its red hands tearing into the marble like tissue paper with its gray nails. Gunshots sounded and the red beast grunted, looking amused. A lone security officer stood, visible shaken, his almost pitifully small pistol smoking. With a growl, the creature slammed a foot into the ground, creating a shockwave that sent everyone in the area flying. Annie managed to hold onto a pole to prevent flying off, tears running down her eyes. The creature let out another moan, its eyes showing turmoil underneath. Tears ran down its face as it snarled, crouched down on all four limbs, and leapt through the ceiling, disappearing in seconds. Annie, crying heavily, pulled out her phone and hit speed dial.

“Hello? This is Bruce Banner speaking? Who is this?”

“B-Bruce? I-It’s m-me, Annie…Thunder is gone…his…his Hulk took over…”

Nice.

@tmacximas:

So...who do you think the white creature is?

@Necrotic_Lycanthrope: My main criticism is that it's not in individual parts like Red Hulk: Frozen Planet, Frozen Heart Pt 1 etc. I've read only parts one and two so far. It's good work

.

@batkevin74:

The current individual parts where too short for a complete chapter, so I bunched them together for the sake of spacing. Plus a complaint was not enough writing, so I obliged.

Oh, and thanks. :)

I might end up doing the other parts separated, since forum threads limit comments in a row. So I'll just add them into my blog and connect them via the forum that way. I uploaded part 6 with that in mind.

@TheAcidSkull Thanks! Glad you like it. :)

Bumping.