Marvel: The Enlightened One-Chapter 96: [] - A Life for a Life!

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Nick Fury’s words hung in the air.

Bruce froze.

The next second, his gaze snapped back to the headstone.

Betty’s photograph seemed to smile back at him.

A brilliant, radiant smile.

...

An hour later, Bruce Banner came back to the apartment. He emerged from the bedroom carrying a cardboard box full of Betty’s things, walked downstairs, and entered the living room.

He carefully took their wedding photograph down from the wall, leaned it against the baseboard, and then sank to the floor, staring at it.

He was lost in the memory.

Just then, his phone chimed.

Ping.

Bruce pulled it from his pocket. It was an email from Nick Fury. He opened it, glanced at the attached medical report from a S.H.I.E.L.D facility, then, without a word, dialed Fury’s number.

The call connected instantly.

"Bru—"

"Were you part of her plan, or did you help her create it, Nick?"

"Huh?"

Nick Fury was stunned by his question. His heart skipped a beat.

Bruce’s eyes remained fixed on the wedding photo.

"Betty knew that the man who killed General Ross was the same man who killed the Hulk. I assume you were the one who told her that."

"What?"

"I’m not an idiot, Nick."

Bruce’s voice was eerily calm as he stared at the smiling face of his wife in the photograph. "My IQ might not be the highest, but it’s definitely higher than yours. Though right now, I wish it wasn’t."

Nick Fury didn’t answer right away. For a few seconds, the only sound on the line was the sound of his own heavy breathing.

"I don’t understand, Bruce, you..."

"Betty couldn’t get pregnant. Or at least, I couldn’t get her pregnant."

"??"

"I was exposed to massive amounts of gamma radiation."

Bruce took a deep breath, his gaze still fixed on the photo. "I’m curious, Nick. Betty wanted me to become the Hulk again to avenge her father. But you... why did you fake a pregnancy report? Did Betty ask you to?"

In that instant, on the other end of the line, Nick Fury let out a self-deprecating laugh. "Yes."

"You’re lying, Nick."

"..."

Bruce’s voice was quiet. "I spent years on the run from General Ross. I can tell when someone is lying, even over the phone, just from the sound of their voice. And you, Nick, are lying."

"I—"

"But your intelligence really isn’t all that great. Betty had already refused your suggestion, but you did it anyway. I’m curious, why?"

As Bruce spoke, he picked up a second phone, found the last video Betty had ever recorded, and pressed play.

The video had been recorded on the morning of her death. Betty was sitting on the sofa, her expression calm as she looked into the camera.

"Bruce, when you see this, I’ll already be dead."

"I’m sorry."

"I wanted to forget everything, to start a new life with you."

"I really did."

"But I can’t. My father may not have been a good man in the eyes of many, but he was the best father in the world to me."

"In all the years we were apart, I never forgot the time we spent together."

"And I can never forget the way he died."

"..."

"When I finally decided what I had to do, Nick Fury found out. He offered me a better way."

"A pregnancy... It was supposed to be my trump card after I made my move, to ensure you would avenge me."

"But I refused."

"I could have used our love to bind you to my revenge."

"But I will never use a lie to demand it."

"..."

"He’s here..."

"Finally, Bruce, no matter what you decide, please remember that I love you. At the very least, in that moment when we walked into City Hall, I married you because I loved you."

"Goodbye, Bruce."

"Forever yours, Betty."

The video ended.

...

Bruce listened to the heavy breathing on the other end of the line. "You didn’t expect her to leave me a message, did you, Nick?"

He didn’t.

Nick Fury’s mind was racing.

But—

"He’s too dangerous."

"We need someone who can stop him if he does something unpredictable."

"Natasha and Barton can’t do it."

"Neither can Captain America."

"Tony Stark has already decided to remove the arc reactor from his chest. He’s done being Iron Man."

"And Thor hasn’t been seen since he returned to Asgard."

"Right now, only you, Bruce, only you, by reawakening the Hulk, can stop this from happening."

"So yes, I’m sorry for Betty’s death."

"But you need to step up, Bruce."

Nick Fury explained, his voice low and firm. The core of his message was simple.

Hawk is too dangerous and must be controlled. And you, Bruce Banner, are the best weapon we have to control him.

Bruce listened to Fury, who, even after his plan had been exposed, felt no remorse, only a self-righteous justification. He couldn’t help but laugh.

"You are a true hypocrite, Nick Fury."

"Bru—"

"You’re just afraid that one day, Hawk will find out that you were the one who gave General Ross his location. You’re afraid that when he finds out, he’ll stomp your head into the ground, just like he did to Ross."

"You’re scared."

"So you tried to use Betty’s grief to execute your own plan."

"But you never expected her to refuse your offer."

"And after she died, you didn’t show up right away. You were waiting, watching to see if I would seek revenge on my own."

"But I didn’t. And you couldn’t wait any longer."

"So you showed up, with your fake report and your bullshit story."

"For the greater good?"

"You’re a real piece of work, Nick Fury..."

Bruce Banner tore away Fury’s last shred of dignity without a hint of mercy, exposing him for the ass he truly was. "But I guess this is just who you are. Just like last year, when I agreed to help you fight Loki, and you had a cage waiting for me."

On the other end of the line, Nick Fury’s expression didn’t change. "Bruce, I’m sorry you feel that way."

"You should be."

Bruce wasn’t about to indulge him. He snorted. "The only reason you haven’t hung up yet, Nick, is because you’re afraid I’m going to tell Maria Hill what you did. Don’t worry. I won’t. You can hang up in a fit of rage now."

The words were barely out of his mouth when the line went dead.

Just as he’d said.

His IQ might not be the highest, but it was definitely higher than Nick Fury’s.

Bruce looked at the dead phone and shook his head. He didn’t give it another thought.

He had no intention of telling Maria Hill. It wasn’t necessary, and it didn’t matter anyway—because his heart was already dead.

Bruce sat on the floor in the darkness and played Betty’s video again. The truth was, on the day she died, he had already figured out what she was doing.

What he hadn’t known was that she had recorded it all, confessed everything.

In the video, Betty, knowing she was about to die, was calm. She spoke of their past together and of the future they could have had.

Three meals a day, a family of five, the park downstairs, growing old together.

She spoke with such sincerity, and such regret. Just as she’d said in the video, she loved Bruce, and she loved her father.

Because she loved her father, she’d chosen to become a martyr. And because she loved Bruce, she’d chosen to tell him the truth, to leave the final decision up to him.

And Bruce had made his choice.

He hadn’t been sure at first. But after seeing her video, he knew what he had to do.

"You know..."

"When I told you the Hulk was dead, I wasn’t lying."

"He is dead. But I think I can bring him back."

"But it will cost me."

"My life for the Hulk’s life."

"A life for a life."

"Betty, I never liked the Hulk. I really didn’t. He destroyed my life."

"But none of that matters anymore."

"You’re gone. There’s no reason for me to keep living."

"So."

"I will give my life to bring him back."

"Wait for me in Hell."

"I’ll be there soon."

In the darkness of the empty apartment, Bruce Banner looked at the image of his wife on his phone and whispered his final vow.

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