Chapter Text
“Ladies and gentlemen of the court,” The prosecutor said as he paced in front of the jury, “The defendant, Dr. Robert Bruce Banner, is charged with billions of dollars of damages and multiple accounts of destroying public and private property. You sit there and see this meek man, wondering how, how on Earth could this man have done this? Easily, because he is the Hulk.”
The Jury looked over at Dr. Banner, sitting in his chair as his lawyer patted his shoulder, “Don’t worry, it’s just the prosecution trying to show their case, we’ll dismantle it with ease.”
“I hope so, Jennifer,” Bruce said, though he seemed glum about it. Should he win the case? He said he wasn’t guilty, but…
“Don’t sweat it, big cuz, Jenny’s got this,” She narrowed her eyes, and listened on,
“Dr. Banner, in a fit of rage, destroyed our fair city and shall continue to destroy other cities and government lands if we don’t do what is needed, and either throw him into the bottom of the darkest cell we have, or ,” The prosecutor looked toward the Jury, “The death penalty, as certain states and countries the Hulk has torn through have this law, and it is up to you citizens to ascertain whether or not they apply. And I assure you, it does.” The prosecution then sat down as Jennifer got up, and walked toward the front of the room,
“What the prosecution has shown you is the same black-and-white view that our government and military share; The Hulk is a monster, and Dr. Banner is at fault. None of them show the good Dr. Banner has done, nor the good the Hulk has done! How the provocations of our government and military caused most of these disasters to occur! And furthermore, I have evidence to claim that Bruce Banner and the Hulk are not the same person, and should be treated with different legal matters.”
“Well, Ms. Walters, you have the stand first, who is your first witness?” The Judge asked Jennifer,
“Easy, the Defense calls upon Ms. Ross to take the stand.” Bruce looks up, seeing Betty smile at him as she walks up to the stand, sitting down as she swore on the Bible to tell the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. Jennifer walked up, smiling at Betty, “Now, Ms. Ross, how long have you known Dr. Banner?”
“Gosh, years,” Betty said, looking at the shy scientist, “I first met him when he was brought along my father’s project on--”
“Objection, your honor--”
“Don’t even start with me today,” The Judge said, “Those files are declassified, and allowed to be discussed upon today! Now then, carry on Ms. Ross.”
“Alright, my father’s project on the Gamma Bomb,” Betty continued to explain how she got to know Bruce and his lab partner, Igor, “Bruce is a genius, working under pressure that my father hammered down on him.”
“And do you know what caused Bruce to turn into the Hulk?”
“It was the testing day of the Gamma Bomb. Everything was going smoothly until there was someone out on the testing field! Bruce told Igor to halt the countdown as he got out there to save the person, but then the countdown was never stalled. The Bomb went off, with Bruce out in the field. But by some miracle, he survived!”
“So a government secret test project was experimented with, and on the day of its testing, everything went wrong? Where was Dr. Igor after the event?”
“Gone, along with all of his papers. My father, however, was too busy trying to deal with the new ‘threat,’ the Hulk.” Betty held her hand to her forehead, recalling those long nights, “Bruce was missing, and the Army went out looking for him. They then ran into the Hulk, opening fire at it until it hopped away. And I know that, because it was all my father would talk about.”
“So, by your understanding, it was the Army who attacked first, not the Hulk?”
“Correct,” Betty said, causing the court to murmur upon itself,
“And tying this with the current case, when Bruce Banner was in your house on the night of the event, what caused him to snap?” Betty grimaced, looking over at her father and Talbot, who was still in a body cast,
“Major Talbot broke into my home, smacked and threw me onto the ground in my own home, and shot Bruce.” Betty sobbed, keeping it together as she looked back at Jennifer, “Most people think that the Hulk is a monster or a walking disaster. But without him, the world would’ve lost a great person. Without the Hulk, countless people who were helpless and in need got help.”
“I’ll leave the witness up for questioning, your honor,” Jennifer said, walking back towards her desk. The Prosecution got up, and approached Ms. Ross,
“Ms. Ross, are you a government agent?”
“No, but my father is the general--”
“I’m asking about you, Ms. Ross,” The prosecution interrupted, silencing Betty. Bruce furrowed his brow, breathing calmly, “Are you a federal agent?”
“No, but--”
“Do you have clearance for any military or scientific projects of the United States of America?”
“No,”
“And were you or were you not kidnapped by the Hulk during the duration Dr. Banner was missing?”
“He didn’t kidnap me,” Betty said,
“Oh, then there’s another word for snatching you from outside your own home?”
“He didn’t start to do anything until my father’s men came rushing in, and started to open fire at my home!” Betty snapped back, showing the ‘Thunderbolt’ in her, “I would be dead if the Hulk wasn’t in front of me, and I can safely say a lot of people up and down the continent can say the same!” The prosecution had a sour scowl as they looked toward the Judge,
“No more questions, your Honor,”
“Any other witnesses, Ms. Walters?”
“Yes, your honor, the Defense calls upon Mr. Rick Jones to the stand,” Betty and Bruce gasped as they looked over, seeing the young man stand up from his chair. Rick waved at Bruce and Betty and sat down on the stand. He swore on the Bible, and Jennifer walked toward the stand once more,
“Now, Rick, how did you meet Dr. Banner?”
“Well, it started like this: My friends dared me to park my car past some chained-up fence, and I’m not chicken, so I snuck in. Should I have looked for some nuclear danger signs, yeah, but I didn’t see any on my drive up, so I parked my car and played the harmonica. Then, out of nowhere, this guy in a lab coat comes driving in on some truck, telling me to get the hell down. He shoves me down a ditch, when all of a sudden, there is this flash of green light that blasts out. The Doc screamed, staring into the light as it kept flashing. Then, he passed out, and I drove him toward the base to get a doctor.”
“So you were the person out on the field, the one Dr. Banner saved,” Jennifer then smirked as she saw the prosecution’s witnesses, “What made the doctor turn into the Hulk for the first time?”
“Well, I was outside the room, but I saw this general dude with this bushy, gray mustache charge into the room, and just start yelling. A lot of it was muffled, but some of the words were some you shouldn’t say in a PG movie,” Rick then looked up, his eyes wide, “Then he left the room, and I wanted to know what happened and snuck in. The Doc looked shaken, pacing back and forth as he got more and more sweaty. I tried to calm him down, but… He was already mad.”
“And, if you could, point out the man who yelled at Dr. Banner, triggering his transformation?” Rick lifted his pointer finger, and the court gasped aloud as it landed on General Thaddeus Ross in the room, who looked grim as he studied Dr. Banner and Rick, “Thank you, Rick, I have no other questions.” The prosecution got up, and went to their questions,
“Now, Mr. Jones, you did know that you were breaching government property, and that could lead to its own trial.”
“How could I have known? There were no signs,” Rick said, folding his arms in the chair,
“And is it true that you helped out the Hulk, helping him hide within the Mojave Desert even though he was an enemy to our country’s military?”
“I helped out the Hulk, made sure he didn’t actually hurt anybody. If they fire at him, that’s their fault!” Rick then looks around the court, “If you keep poking a bear, and it mauls you, you can only blame yourself for poking the bear!”
“Mr. Jones--”
“No, I’m tired of this crap! The Hulk is a good guy, you’re the ones with the space lasers and miniguns and rockets, if anything you guys did more damage than he did!”
“Mr. Jones,” The Judge spoke up, “Although this may be your first time in court, that type of language will not float around in my court, understand?”
“Yes, your honor sir,” Rick said, slumping back into his chair,
“And this isn’t your first time, aiding against the best interests of your country?” The prosecution said as he held up a file, “Aliens from another world, ones that could lead to the endangerment of not just the country, but the planet! Your sense of reasoning seems… Off, doesn’t it?”
“Or maybe, I’m helping the little guy out!”
“Little guys, who can throw over cars and shoot lasers out of their hands? I doubt that” The prosecution then looked toward the Judge, “I’m done with questions, your honor,”
“Damn, they’re trying to grill them,” Jennifer said, looking over at Bruce who was trying to breathe calmly, “Don’t let it get to you, Bruce. They’re just trying to grill their accounts, it’s not gonna fly with the Jury,”
“Ms. Walters, do you have a final witness before we stop for a break, and resume with the prosecution’s case?”
“Yes, your honor, the Defense calls upon Dr. Leonard Samson to take the stand,” Standing up tall with a blond ponytail, Leonard walked up confidently as he took up his oath, “Dr. Samson, can you tell me and the court what you’re a doctor of?”
“Psychology is my major, which I’ve written three theses’ on, with Sociology and Pharmaceuticals as my minors with only a thesis on each. I am, however, currently writing another thesis on the Sociology of Superhumans within our society,” He smiled with his strong jawline as he looked around the room,
“My, my, such a backing! And you’ve been the main therapist for Dr. Banner?”
“Yes, and I’ve been the main therapist for the Hulk as well.”
“Well, Doctor, aren’t they the same person? Sure, one is tall, green, and built like a brick house on steroids, but they share the same body, right?”
“Yes, but not the same mind,” Samson continued, leaning into the microphone, “It seems that the Hulk is a sort of a dissociative identity that Bruce Banner, unconsciously to his own being, created as a mental defense mechanism.”
“What could cause such events?”
“Traumatic childhood trauma, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, with varied links to genetics. Most people hear this and think, ‘Oh right, Multiple Personalities!’ But that’s not necessarily the case. How we’ve identified and understood this mental illness is that it’s as if the person was a glass plate, and it was thrown and smashed on the floor. The largest piece is what you call, ‘yourself,’ It’s who you are when you wake up, get to work, drink coffee, etc. But the little pieces around you are different fragments of yourself that have splintered off. Normal… Sorry, ‘Normal,’” Samson said with quotation marks, “Do this all the time, with you not noticing the traffic at work, clocking in then clocking out of a shift, you’re going on autopilot. It dissociates. What D.I.D. does is make it so that you dissociate so much, you don’t realize you right now, but someone else.”
“So it’s like if your mind was a stage, and you played every part as a different character?”
“Exactly! That man right there, Bruce Banner, who is sitting down right now, as the defendant in this trial is not aware of the events of what happened in New York, because he became the Hulk. Hence, why the Hulk is not a nuclear physicist and gamma radiation expert. The key treatment to D.I.D is to try and bring these shattered pieces together, slowly mold them back into one person, and try to overcome the trauma that separated them in the first place.”
“Will it be hard?”
“Oh yes, very much so. Can anyone in this room stand and say they don’t have any parent issues, mother or father wise?” No one in the court stood up, not even the prosecutor, “Everyone has trauma, but the level and effect of the trauma varies for every person.”
“Do we know what traumatic event happened to Bruce?”
“We have official police reports, but Bruce has said nothing about the event because he can’t recall it. What we do know is that his father, Brian Banner, was arrested for the murder of his wife and the mother of Bruce, Rebecca Banner. Bruce was the sole witness, and because of that, his mind broke apart to deal with it.”
“Heartbreaking, a child losing their mother from their father. And if we examine how the Hulk acts, although destructive, he does act like a kid.” Jennifer then turned to the Judge, “You Honor, I rest my case.”
“Prosecution?” The Judge said as he stood up, walking over to Doctor Samson.
“Dr. Samson, your usual patient you treat, are they always giant green rage monsters?”
“No,” Leonard chuckled, “Though I have dealt with a man who turned himself into a dinosaur, would that fall under my usual patient?”
“Your Honor, he is under oath.” The prosecutor said,
“Your Honor, I am telling the truth,” Samson said, looking around, “In fact, he thinks everyone should be a dinosaur. Which is a whole can of worms that I deal with daily. Or, how about a man who believes we’re all in a fanfiction of a comic book! He believes he can see into the fourth wall .”
“How close to reality is that, huh? ” Jennifer whispered to you, Ferris Bueller style,
“When you break it down, all people are ‘crazy’, everyone can get ‘nuts’. Give them superpowers, and you just throw gasoline onto that fire. People’s grasp on reality really starts to break down when they can teleport, fly, read minds, or even see through walls! How could a schizophrenic, or even a bipolar man, cope with that power and the illness that affects their mind at the same time? To just lock them up and throw away the key would spit in the face of modern medicine. These people need help, and we need people who can help them.”
“What about the people they hurt?” The Prosecutor said, “The dinosaur guy, he will try to turn other people into dinosaurs! And the Hulk will want to, and I quote, ‘ Smash .’ To help them medically is one thing, but to absolve them of all crime because their mind is going haywire is nonsensical! It’s how we can charge a man who is black-out drunk for hitting a person and killing them, we charge the owner of the body who has done the damage. And the owner of both the body of Hulk and Dr. Banner is Dr. Banner!”
“But a man who is blackout drunk is the one who got himself drunk. Mental illness is not self-inflicted, and is caused by outside forces, such as trauma or inherited genetics!”
“That is the Law. It does not matter if they are blind, drunk, have amnesia, or don’t even know who they are at that moment. If they crash a car, and someone is hurt, they are at fault.” The lawyer looked at the Jury, pointing towards Bruce, “Remember that, ladies and gentlemen.”
“Damn,” Jennifer said as the prosecutor sat down, the Judge calling for recess, “I didn’t expect him to slam into Samson’s testimony. Sorry, Bruce, this might be closer than we planned.”
“It’s fine, either way, it's good. Either I’m free and with my friends and loved ones, or the world is safe from me.”
“We can’t think like that! You deserve to be happy, Bruce.”
Meanwhile, far away from the trial of the Hulk, monitoring the trial through his inventions, an egomaniac watches, slamming his fist into his chair,
“He deserves to be under my rule!” The man stood up from his chair, looking outward to his minions, his forehead large and looming as it cast a shadow upon the cavernous lair, “Gargoyle! Unleash the gamma soldiers, they shall reclaim my prize, my property, my Hulk! And then I shall rule this pitiful planet!”
“Yes, my ‘Leader,’” A small, impish man with a large cranium and gray skin hobbled over, pulling the switch down as the cages began to release. One by one, these monsters came out, snarling at the bright light of the monitors above.
Leading them all out of their cages was a large, scaled thing with claws and fins, and snarling teeth as it lumbered forward. The Abomination knelt before his Leader. To the right of him was a freakish mutant of radioactive tampering, a large brute that wrestled for a leg of deer with the head above its own. The Bi-Beast roared out in a ravenous desire for flesh. To the left of Abomination, a twitching monstrosity buzzed and hummed as it gazed out of its one eye, made of hundreds of red eyes that looked in all directions. The Psyklops vomited on the floor and slurped it back up. And behind them all, led out with batteries and other stolen devices by Gargoyle, was a ghoul of a man that leaped out, slurping the electricity out of them, but it was never enough for the Half-Life,
“You all are under my rule, my mind,” The Leader said, grinning as he pointed toward the monitors, “With the Hulk in my possession, we shall conquer this planet with our gamma might! All hail the Leader, all hail me!!!”
They roared out and followed the tunnels that led to the surface world, their collars beeping along with them as the Leader wore his mind circlet. The Leader cackled, watching with enthusiasm as he saw through their eyes as they marched toward the City, toward the Trial, toward the Hulk.
Gargoyle scoffed, muttering to himself, “Damned Leader, damned fool! If I had a chance, I would stab him right in his engorged melon!” Gargoyle looked into the metal of the cage doors, seeing his own reflection, “My god, what have I become. I only wanted power, not… Not this, I--”
“Gargoyle!” The Leader screeched out, “Quit muttering to yourself and prepare the mind harnesser! I want it prepped and prepared for the Hulk’s arrival, and I don’t want to hear your sniveling!”
“Yes, ‘Leader,’” Gargoyle shook his head, getting the device ready as the Leader smiled at the screen. The Leader kept his eye on the cameras, his mind able to process all of them at the same time. Even with the hundreds of angles that Psyklops provided him,
“Half-Life, you will have a feast later, let go of the Squirrel. Bi-Beast! Stop eating that bear and keep marching! And for God’s sake, Psyklops, slurp up that vomit this instant!” His orders were barked out, and his minions could hear them within their minds, “Abomination! I give you field command, but mark my words: go against my plans and I shall devise a torture beyond your feeble, little mind can even comprehend!” The Leader let the mind circle cool down as he left it in rest mode, “Gargoyle, I am going to review my plans for world conquest. By the time I’m back, that device better be ready!”
“Of course, ‘Leader,’” Gargoyle calibrated the device, wondering if this would be the moment to pull the rug under the Leader’s nose. Or… Would he expect it? Gargoyle could not tell, for as brash and egocentric the Leader is, he is one of the most intelligent minds on this planet. He probably predicted that the Gargoyle would’ve betrayed him soon… Or maybe… No, how about… Blast it! Gargoyle kept calibrating, muttering to himself as he rechecked the diodes.