"Hmm, go on, I can understand you," Robert nodded encouragingly when he saw Hulk stammering, urging him to continue. "Is it true that your consciousness and Bruce Banner's can't coexist?"
"Hulk coexist? Hulk no coexist!" Hulk tightened his fists when he heard Robert's words, though it was unclear if he fully understood them. But when he realized it was Robert standing before him, he quickly loosened his grip, turned his head to the side, and grumpily shouted.
"Not too smart, it seems..." Robert sighed helplessly at Hulk's reaction. He then focused his mind and directly communicated with Hulk's consciousness. "Can only one of you, either you or Bruce Banner, be in control at a time?"
"Hulk!" Hulk reacted instinctively when he heard Robert's voice suddenly appear in his mind, leaping back a step. But when he realized he could communicate with Robert without speaking out loud, Hulk became excited. "No! Only one of us can use the body. We've always been fighting for control!"
"I see. So, what do you want? Do you want to stay like this, living inside the same body with Banner, only coming out occasionally, or do you want to eliminate Banner's consciousness and take over the body yourself?" Robert thought for a moment, bringing up the discussion he had earlier with Tony Stark and the others, curious to see Hulk's choice. "Of course, there's a third option—you two could separate and have your own bodies, though that's not necessarily possible. I want to know what you really want..."
"Banner doesn't like Hulk! Hulk doesn't like Banner!" Hulk's childish voice was full of frustration. "But Banner can't die. If Banner dies, Hulk dies too..."
"Then why don't you try communicating with Banner?" Robert raised an eyebrow, suggesting to Hulk. "Even if only one of you can control the body, you must have some contact in the struggle for control, right? That means you can sense each other's presence, so why not have a good talk?"
"Banner always rejects Hulk, and Hulk doesn't want to talk to a coward!" Hulk raised his head proudly and firmly stated.
"I see. It seems we'll have to try the third option..." Robert nodded in understanding and turned to Tony Stark. "What do you think? Can you create a body suitable for him?"
"Not a chance! You're talking about creating life here, not just cloning an ordinary body. And it has to be compatible with someone like Hulk. I think it's too difficult..." Tony Stark rolled his eyes and replied grumpily.
"Why clone a Hulk body?" Robert asked, surprised. "When Hulk reverts to Bruce Banner, why not just clone a Banner body? If Hulk's power recedes, Banner will return to being an ordinary person, so cloning would just produce a normal human, right?"
"Uh..." Tony Stark opened his mouth but didn't know what to say. He glanced at Hulk, clearly struggling with how to respond.
"Oh! I get it!" Robert's eyes flashed with realization as he stared at Tony Stark. "You think Bruce Banner is the normal human, so he can't accept having his body taken over by Hulk. He can only use a cloned body, right?"
"That's not the issue. You're oversimplifying it!" Tony Stark shook his head, looking at Robert seriously. "If cloning Banner's body could solve the problem, I wouldn't think it's difficult. Their symbiotic relationship is much more complicated than Spider-Man and Venom. According to the data, Hulk was born from Banner to some extent..."
"You should be familiar with Spider-Man and Morbius's situation. Both of them had their genetic structure altered by an accident, gaining extraordinary abilities and becoming a different kind of humanoid lifeform. Essentially, their genes changed..."
"However, unlike Hulk, Spider-Man's appearance didn't change much, and Morbius turned into something resembling a traditional vampire..."
"But besides appearance, the biggest difference between them and Banner is that when Banner's genes mutated, Hulk's consciousness was born. If Spider-Man or Morbius had developed another consciousness, they too would be controlled by it, just as Banner is with Hulk."
"Even if Hulk hides, Banner's genes are still different from before. His blood might appear normal, but his genes remain altered. If they had fully returned to normal, Hulk wouldn't exist!"
"This means that separating Hulk and Banner's consciousnesses and bodies isn't just about cloning. We need to restore all of Banner's mutated genes to their original state, truly making him an ordinary human, and then use the mutated genes to create a body suitable for Hulk."
"Hmm, you've thought of a solution, so go ahead and do it," Robert nodded indifferently. "Why wait?"
"Hulk doesn't want to be bled! Hulk doesn't want Banner bled either! Last time, a monster that mimicked Hulk appeared after they took his blood!" Hulk finally managed to say a complete sentence after being silent for a while.
"SHIELD couldn't extract mutated blood from Banner's body because of Hulk..." Martian Manhunter's eyes flickered as he spoke up, seemingly realizing something. "If Hulk's body is full of mutated blood, Banner would only have a portion of it, controlled by Hulk, which is key to Hulk's transformation. If Hulk helps control the mutated blood, our experiment might go more smoothly!"
"See, you have a method and a shortcut, so why not start the experiment?" Robert smiled, glancing at Tony Stark's slightly tired expression.
"Hulk doesn't want to be bled! Hulk doesn't want a monster that mimics Hulk to appear!" Hulk repeated his earlier statement, more fluently this time.
"Shut up!" Robert glared at Hulk, then frowned. "Speaking of that monster, I should have left him alive, knowing he might be useful..."
"The military called that guy Abomination. He wasn't unique. General Ross's group called these creatures Gamma Warriors. I don't know what the others are called, but JARVIS found something important..." Tony Stark sighed and showed the data JARVIS had gathered.
"This is what I didn't finish saying earlier. I mentioned the ideal situation, but we might not be able to create a body suitable for Hulk. Only one born from Bruce Banner's body is Hulk. Other creatures created from mutated blood are all weird-looking, none identical to Hulk."
"So, if we clone Banner, he remains the same, but Hulk might not look like this?" Robert raised an eyebrow, glancing at Hulk's green body. "What's the big deal? He's already this ugly. How much worse could it get? Sure, Abomination was uglier, but so what? Having his own body is better than sharing one, right?"
"Hulk doesn't want to be a monster!" Hulk was silent for a while, but when he finally understood what Robert meant, he shouted.
"Shut up! You're already ugly enough!" Robert scolded, making Hulk sulk. His somewhat human face looked surprisingly cute with that expression.
"Appearance changes are secondary. Tony is worried about whether Hulk's new body will have different abilities, losing his increasing strength and not being able to adapt," Martian Manhunter looked at JARVIS's data and asked Tony Stark.
"Yes, Hulk controls the power in Banner's body. But who can guarantee Banner won't control it if Hulk leaves? And what if the new body with new abilities develops a new consciousness?" Tony Stark nodded.
"I don't get everything you're saying, but I know one thing clearly..." Robert's eyes darted around as Tony Stark raised another issue. He suddenly focused on Hulk, muttering some incantations while a force acted on Hulk's body.
With a hum, two souls emerged above Hulk's body—one of Hulk and one of a confused Bruce Banner.
"So this is Hulk?" Bruce Banner had never seen his body as Hulk before, except in images. Now he was seeing two Hulks.
"Hulk?" Hulk was even more confused. The feeling of being rootless in his soul form was unsettling, and he felt significantly weaker. His soul lacked the solid power he was used to.
Then, with another hum, a warm energy enveloped Hulk's soul, sending Bruce Banner's soul back into his body.
Tony Stark and Peter Parker were stunned, while Martian Manhunter widened his eyes, unsure what to say.
Under Martian Manhunter's gaze, Bruce Banner opened his eyes, but he hadn't reverted to his normal form. He was still in Hulk's body.
"What's this?" Bruce Banner was bewildered by the immense strength in his body. He squeezed his fist and marveled at the power. "So this is Hulk's strength? Incredible..."
"Hulk! That's Hulk's body!" Hulk's soul panicked as he pointed at the body Bruce Banner was controlling, but the warm energy around him kept him from moving, leaving him helplessly shouting.
"Are you Banner now?" Tony Stark hesitantly asked.
"Yes, Hulk's consciousness seems to have left my body. But how do I change back? I can't stay like this forever," Bruce Banner nodded, looking at his massive body and contemplating how to control it.
"He seems to be controlling it well. It looks like Hulk might be unnecessary now..." Martian Manhunter muttered to himself, glancing between Banner and Hulk's soul.
"It's working!" Bruce Banner quickly returned to his normal form, and his excitement was palpable. "So, Hulk's no longer fighting for control. I can fully control my body now! Does that mean my problem is solved?"
Excitedly, Bruce Banner transformed back into Hulk, but his mind remained intact. He repeatedly transformed and reverted, seemingly mastering the ability to control his transformations.
Meanwhile, Hulk's soul could only watch helplessly, unable to even cry...
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