Marvel: Born in Fire!

"So my sister is with this... Red She-Hulk?" Kala asked with a tilt of his head and Bruce sighed at the fixation his son had on his newly discovered sister. Not that he didn't understand as he was using all of his mental discipline to not become fixated himself. No matter how much he wanted to, there were far more pressing issues. Far more pressing than the fact that he had gone from no children to three in less than a year!

No... calm down... breathe in and out...

Yes, he was calm. Which he needed to be in order to figure out what was the deal with this Red She-Hulk. He already had the joy of meeting her male counterpart but their goals were still unclear except that they had already fought several heroes and the first sighting of Red She-Hulk was right after the disappearance of Jen. A connection that Bruce really did not like.

"We don't know what she wants or why your… sister went with her. While they seemed to be at odds with Osborn's Avengers, I doubt that they are our allies either." After all, the enemy of your enemy wasn't always your friend. Sometimes they were simply another enemy. "I'm concerned on how, whoever is the one that mutated them, managed to form such stable gamma mutates. Not to mention Jen's disappearance."

"Do you think that someone kidnapped and then used her blood to make them?" Kala asked with a raised eyebrow but Bruce shook his head.

"She was more than likely kidnapped but the timeline of Red She-Hulk's first sightings and Jen's disappearance is far too close. Not to mention Red Hulk appeared before her disappearance." He said as he pinched the bridge of his nose, feeling the headache coming. "I think it might have to do with the people from AIM who kept me in a lab after my last... rampage." That was definitely better than saying 'World War Hulk' as some people did. "But there has to be someone else involved, no one in AIM is good enough to create perfect gamma mutates like them." At best they would have been able to create hybridized versions like the Gamma Corps.

Or was he underestimating them? They had managed to somehow drain him fully of gamma after all. An achievement that should have been impossible for a hack like MODOK or anyone following him.

"Whoever is helping them, they must be an expert of some sort when it comes to gamma." Kala said with a frown as he looked up with his arms crossed and Bruce's eyes widened as all the pieces fit together. An expert of gamma who could track him, track Jen, manage to create perfect gamma mutates and would be an enemy to both Bruce and Osborn's Avengers. The only one who actually fit all the criteria was...

"Sterns." He growled out the name of the bastard who had tormented him throughout years, ever since that time he had stopped the bastard's 'genius plan' to take over the United States through a series of spy rings. Ever since then, the once dimwitted and now super intelligent maniac had made it his mission to cause as much misery to Bruce as he could. The bastard had even ruined his first wedding with... with Betty.

"By Sterns I'm guessins you mean the lowlife who orchestrated the events that led to the demise of Hiroim Oldstrong." Yes, he had done that as well. It seemed like Kala's and Skaar's feelings towards Sterns was not much different than Bruce's own feelings, going by the dark scowl and growling respectively, which was nice.

It seemed like, for once, he knew how to spend some quality time with his sons.

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"You seem troubled." I couldn't help but notice as I looked at Hercules and made it known. It was strange to see the usually boisterous son of Zeus being so quiet.

"Aye, I guess I am." He admitted with a sigh. "I have received a message from my sister."

"Do you have any idea how little that narrows it down?" I asked with a smirk and Hercules let out a small chuckle, his father's dalliances and the results of those dalliances were rather well known.

"I guess I did deserve that." His smile then dropped and he sighed. "The sister I talk about is Athena, the goddess of wisdom and strategic warfare. She requests my aid."

"You don't seem enthusiastic about it."

"That's because I am not. Not only I'm already trying to help your father and brother as much as I can in their search for these new Red Hulks but I also am wary of whatever my sister might want help with."

"Don't have a good relationship with her?" I asked. I already knew that his relationship with his brother Ares could be called antagonistic on a good day but I knew nothing of his relationship with the other war deity of Olympus.

"Not a bad one but... complex." He said with a sigh. "Years ago when one of my uncles left me to die in the mountains as a small babe, it was Athena who found me and orchestrated Hera breastfeeding me. She was also the one who helped me deal with Stymphalian birds, my sixth labor, by scaring them with loud noises so that I could shoot them while taking cover under the pelt of the Nemean Lion. But whenever I met her throughout my life, she always seemed to be looking through me rather than at me. I didn't care during my days as a hero but now that I have young Amodeus with me, whom I almost lost during a quest she sent me on, I find myself wary of her possible schemes."

...wow, that was a lot more than I had expected and also far more responsible than I had expected of Hercules. Not trying to badmouth him but the son of Zeus tended to give the impression of a particularly dumb golden retriever. Lovable but not exactly what you would call bright. Hearing him think so deeply about possible consequences of his actions were strangely humbling.

"How about meeting her with someone neutral then? Someone who is willing to hear her out but isn't willing to put up with any of her bullshit."

"My sister is a goddess my friend, there aren't many people who could get away with not being willing to put up with her bullshit." Hercules said with an empty chuckle and I simply shrugged.

"Just giving out a random idea."

"Thanks anyway my friend." Son of Zeus said with a smile as he patted my shoulder and left, though I could swear I heard him mutter something about some 'old lady'.

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