POV Rio
"Mr Banner," I say aloud from right behind Banner.
"BAH!" Banner screams, and I see a flash of green before he suppresses it.
"Oops, sorry about that. I didn't mean to scare you," I apologize.
"You really shouldn't sneak up on people like that. But fine, I accept your apology. Now what do you want?" Banner says cautiously.
"I would like to hire you. I could use a mind like yours, and before you deny it or say something dumb, just know that yes, I know about the Hulk, no, I don't intend on making more of him, yes, I have means to entertain and contain him, and yes, I am offering you a job for your mind not Hulk's abilites, and lastly, I can offer to separate the two of you," I explain while counting on my hands at each answer.
Banner looks completely confused for a few moments, but he recovers.
"That's... Some bold claims. How do I know you are telling the truth or that you can do anything you suggest?" Banner says while keeping some distance between us.
"Excellent question, the answer is this," I say before activating the spell and teleporting us to the Watchtower. Specifically, a room with a window.
Banner's eyes were wide, and the only thing that kept him from going Hulk was the alarm at his wrist, making him forcibly calm down.
"What did you just do? Where are we?" Banner asks before pausing at the window and looking down at Earth.
"This is impossible..." Banner says quietly.
"Magic is a pathway to abilities many would consider... unnatural," I say in my best Palpatine voice.
"What? Are we really in space? How did we get here?" Banner starts asking again, this time with the mind of a scientist.
"We're in space, on my space station called the Watchtower. We got here using teleportation, a magic spell specifically," I explain.
Banner goes through various emotions, but he doesn't deny my claim right away; instead, he requests that I show him around. I do just that, and to further prove my point, I even take him on a short space walk. Combined with me showing some additional magic, he eventually gives in.
"Sigh. Fine. While I don't deny that it is still possible that you could somehow be faking this, I feel that it is really hard to prove at this point. So tell me what you want, what you really want," Banner demands.
"It's fairly straightforward. I want you to use that genius intelligence to help with several projects I have, and in exchange, I will work to separate you and Hulk," I reply.
"You keep saying separate. What do you mean by that?" Banner asks.
"Hulk has developed a soul. Right now, you and Hulk are linked extremely closely as both souls are heavily connected. Killing either of you would kill the other without the needed preparation, but I don't want to do that. Hulk is a child who is lashing out because everyone around him wants to hurt him or hates him. He's what, 3 years old now? You might not be a psychologist, but surely you can tell where I am going with this," I suggest.
Banner's eyes widen slightly, and he seems to take my theory seriously.
"Okay, I can see some merit in that theory. However, Hulk is dangerous. Can you really suggest that he be released from me?" Banner explains.
"Has Hulk killed anyone that didn't attack him first?" I ask.
"Well... I don't know, probably," Banner says with a nervous shrug.
"No, he hasn't, at least not yet. I've seen the files of every person aware of the Hulk and then cross referenced it with deaths and confirmed that the only ones that have been killed are the very few Hulk used too much power and killed. Even when under attack, he flees. He destroys a lot of property, but he has a kill count of 8... Let that sink in, after all the times he's rampaged, all the destruction, he's only killed 8. 7 of those were soldiers that were killed due to mechanical and safety failures of their vehicles not being as good as was reported. The one death outside of that was when Hulk killed a man using a child as a human shield. In which case, I don't blame him, I would have done the same," I explain.
Banner seems genuinely shocked by my statement. To further prove my statement, I pulled up the files and the research I did.
"But... How... How does he have such control and yet none at all? It makes no sense," Banner comments.
"He's throwing a tantrum. Like any toddler would. But he was also born out of you, which has given him more cognition than his age would suggest. He needs guidance and care, not judgment and murder attempts. You need to look within yourself and ask yourself the real questions. Why do you want to kill Hulk? Is it really because he's a threat?" I probe.
Banner nearly staggers from that question as he looks completely confused. So much so that he starts to transform. I grab his wrist and teleport to the specially prepared training room.
"RAAAAAAAAAAH!" Hulk yells in anger and perhaps a little sadness, and I quickly back off as Hulk starts to smash things.
Hulk smashes at the floors and walls, but barely even budges the Vibranium blocks I had lined the walls with. Even if Hulk smashed at them for days, he would barely make any progress. Which, as predicted, was quickly noticed by Hulk, who then focused all his strength into destroying the block in front of him. He did this for about 30 minutes straight before he slowed down and stopped attacking the block.
"Why not break?" Hulk asked me.
"This room was built specially for you to smash to your heart's content. It also has refreshments if you would like some," I say while gesturing to the newly appearing table.
Hulk walked over to the table and sniffed the food. He took a bite and seemed to love the taste as he started to scarf the food into his mouth. His appetite was quite impressive as he finished the massive amount of food. When he was done, he sat on the floor and had a happy smile on his face.
"Hulk like you, you Hulk's friend," Hulk said with a smile.
"Nice to meet you, Hulk, my name is Rio," I say while offering my hand.
Hulk took my hand gently and shook it a bit. His handshake was still quite rough, but it was because he wasn't used to shaking hands.
"You pretty," Hulk says with a smile.
"Thank you, would you be willing to live here for a bit? It would mean you didn't have to run anymore, and I can make sure you can play in this room every day," I offer.
"Banner not let me, Banner not nice," Hulk says sadly.
"I can convince him. After all, what are friends for?" I respond with a kind smile.
Hulk nods and lets Banner come back. Banner looks confused for a moment and then realises what happened and looks around in a panic. But that panic turns to confusion and then awe.
"Incredible. How did you make this place?" Banner says while observing the floor.
"It's all made of Vibranium," I reply.
"WHAT?!" Banner says as he recoils from the floor as if he was scared he could somehow soil it.
"So! What do you think? Want to join me? It has other great benefits, such as medical, paid time off, a great salary, and we have better dental than the FBI," I say with a smile.
"Well... Uh, I guess I'm willing to join, but what exactly do you need me for?" Banner asks.
I pull out a folder and hand it to him.
"That contains all the projects we are handling right now or are planning. If you like one, you can join it. Though if you join a project that the others are working on, you will be a colleague, not the leader of the project," I explain.
Banner looks through it and freezes when he gets to one of the biggest projects right now.
"Bacta? As in from Star Wars? Its real?" Banner asks with shock.
"Yep, though right now we're working hard to produce more of it, as if it can be mass produced, we could revolutionize the medical field. We're making progress, but Dr Connors has been quite busy as of late, as have I, so progress has slowed. The real issue is that we haven't been able to crack the highly specialized conditions that the bacteria that is in Bacta require to grow in. I was about to bring in more scientists to help, but I got distracted with recruiting you and Hulk," I explain.
"I might major in Nuclear Physics, but I was also quite experienced in Biochemistry. I'm confident I can help. And I can suggest someone who can be trusted to help," Banner offers.
"Let me guess, Betty Ross," I say with a smile.
"Cough. Yes, well, she is very skilled in Cellular Biology; she teaches the subject, and while I admit I might be slightly biased, I know her personality; she wouldn't betray you or me," Banner said firmly.
"Very well, you can reach out to her to see if she is interested in working on this project. Assuming she passes some tests, I will even permit her aboard the Watchtower," I reply.
"Thank you, I promise she will be a boon to the team," Banner replies.
"Of course, the others I was thinking of will likely join fairly soon, though a few might be less experienced. I am certain they are brilliant enough that they will be able to keep up if they are taught properly," I reply.
"I can't wait to meet them," Banner says with a smile.
The people I had planned to invite were Ho Yinsen, Peter Parker, Gwen Stacy, and Hank McCoy to start, but others could be added later. One such candidate is Dr Kavita Rao, whom I was still researching; she is a brilliant scientist in the field of genetics and biochemistry, but her personality needs heavy research just in case. Before I brought her into the projects, I wanted to make sure I knew where her loyalties lie.
Yinsen and Hank were super easy to get on board when I sent them a copy of the files of the properties of Bacta. Yinsen didn't have much to do, and Hank was similarly bored. It should be noted that this version of the Beast hadn't gone full blue beast, but rather, he just had odd feet. I also considered hiring Helen Cho, but she had a project that was her magnum opus and used up all her time, making cooperation impossible. It also didn't help that her project had already been greatly hindered due to the release of the Stimpak, and now I was working on creating something even stronger.
Peter and Gwen were a bit harder to employ. First off, I wasn't going to take them into space; instead, I offered them an internship that had very flexible hours so they could do their hero work while still having a stable income. Peter was the easier of the two to convince, as he seemed to greatly like Wayne Enterprises after a Stimpak saved his uncle's life. Police carry a Stimpak with them at all times in case of an emergency, and that alone has saved the lives of thousands of people and hundreds of officers.
George Stacy was a bit less certain of my offer.
"Mr Gannon, I do appreciate the offer, but this just seems a bit too good to be true. Gwen is good, but she hasn't even fully graduated from High School yet. And she already has offers for several universities," George says cautiously.
"I understand your hesitation. You only want what is best for her, but I assure you, this is a great opportunity. The job pays well, and I'm sure you understand how big landing a job at Wayne Enterprises can be for a kid right out of High School. She isn't the only person we've scouted for this job. And while I'm not at liberty to share everything, she would be working on something that would change the medical industry forever," I say cryptically.
George seems to catch on to what I am suggesting.
"Dad, please let me take this chance. This is practically my dream job, and you've worked with Wayne Enterprises before and never had anything bad to say before. What changed?" Gwen pleads.
"George, stop being such a worrywart and let her take this chance. Gwen isn't a baby anymore, and she needs to have the chance to spread her wings," Helen Stacy says sternly to George.
"Sigh. Okay. Okay. You can take the job," George says reluctantly.
"Thanks, Dad!" Gwen says while hugging George before breaking the hug and blushing as she realizes I was still here.
I take out the paperwork and start to explain the job, such as when she starts, where they will be working, and any other pertinent info she needs to know. Once everything is settled, I take my leave.