Sam flew across the world and landed in a crowded, noisy city in India.
He didn't bring any S.H.I.E.L.D. agents with him.
He didn't need a tactical team or heavy weapons. Just him alone was more than enough.
Walking through the busy, colorful streets, Sam found Dr. Bruce Banner very quickly.
Bruce noticed him, too.
Seeing a man walking straight toward him with such calm purpose, Bruce instantly panicked.
He quickly turned around and tried to run away, pushing through the crowded market to escape.
But a mortal doctor was not fast enough to run away from a Cultivator.
Sam took a few casual steps, using a tiny bit of his Qi.
In the blink of an eye, he bypassed the crowd and stood right in front of Bruce in a quiet, empty alley.
Bruce stopped dead in his tracks. He was breathing hard, and his eyes were wide with fear.
"Please,"
Bruce begged, holding his hands up defensively.
"You need to walk away right now. You don't know what you are doing. Leave me alone."
"I know exactly what I am doing, Doctor,"
Sam said gently.
"My name is Sam. We need your help to find a stolen item. The world needs you."
Bruce shook his head wildly, wiping sweat from his forehead.
"The world doesn't need me,"
Bruce warned him, his voice shaking.
"You are making a huge mistake. If you push me, if you make me angry... the other guy will come out. The Hulk will destroy you, and he will destroy everything around us."
Sam didn't look scared at all.
Hearing the warning, Sam just smirked.
"I am not afraid of the big guy, Bruce,"
Sam said softly.
"In fact, I came here to talk to him, too."
Before Bruce could react or run away again, Sam reached his hand out.
He gently tapped his finger directly on the center of Bruce's forehead.
Using his strong soul and the pure energy of his Golden Core, Sam smoothly pushed his consciousness straight into Bruce's head.
Instantly, the noisy streets of India faded away.
Sam opened his eyes. He was standing inside Bruce Banner's mental world.
It was a dark, messy, and lonely place.
But Sam's Qi glowed brightly, lighting up the dark space with a warm, comforting pink light.
Sam walked forward, expecting to see a giant, roaring green monster trapped in a cage.
But as the light pushed the shadows away, Sam stopped and blinked in surprise.
There was no giant monster.
Sitting on the floor in the corner of the mind was a tiny figure.
It was the Hulk, but he was just a baby.
He was a cute, little, chubby green baby wearing tiny torn pants.
The little green baby had his small arms crossed over his chest, his bottom lip pushed out in a pout, looking incredibly angry at the world.
Sam let out a soft, warm laugh.
Suddenly, everything made perfect sense.
Bruce Banner was a grown, older man who carried a lot of pain and sadness.
But the Hulk wasn't an adult. The Hulk had only been born a few years ago during the gamma accident.
Unlike old Bruce, the Hulk was just a child.
He was a toddler with unbelievable strength, totally confused by a world that constantly shot guns at him and treated him like a monster.
He was angry because he was scared.
He didn't need to be locked away or hated.
He just needed someone to actually care for him, to teach him, and to guide him.
Sam slowly lowered himself to the floor and sat cross-legged right next to the grumpy green toddler.
"Hey there, little guy,"
Sam said softly, his voice full of pure kindness and warmth.
The baby Hulk looked up. He glared at Sam with big, angry green eyes, ready to yell.
"It's okay,"
Sam smiled, gently reaching out a hand glowing with soft, peaceful Qi.
"You don't have to be angry right now. I am not here to hurt you, and I am not here to lock you away. I am here to take you home."
The baby Hulk looked at Sam's glowing hand.
He didn't yell, and he didn't smash anything. He just looked sad and lonely.
Sam looked deeply into the baby's eyes and realized a massive truth.
"You are not just a sickness, are you?"
Sam asked softly.
"You are not just Bruce's anger. You are a completely separate soul. There are two souls living inside one body."
The little green baby sniffled and nodded.
He pointed to the dark, gloomy walls of Bruce's mind.
"Dark here,"
The baby Hulk grumbled in a small, rough voice.
"Scary. Bruce sad. Hulk hates."
"I know,"
Sam smiled, his voice full of deep understanding.
"Bruce locked you in a cage of depression and fear. But it's over now. I am going to get you out."
Sam gently placed his hand on the baby Hulk's head.
He used his pure Golden Core Qi to wrap around the little green soul.
At the same time, Sam pulled all the wild, dangerous gamma radiation out of Bruce, gathering it together.
With a gentle pull, Sam separated the two souls.
In the real world, inside the quiet alley in India, Sam opened his eyes.
Bruce Banner suddenly gasped loudly and fell to his knees.
He grabbed his chest, breathing heavily.
He looked down at his hands, completely shocked.
The heavy, burning anger that had haunted him for years was completely gone.
"What... what did you do?"
Bruce asked, his eyes wide.
"My head is so quiet."
"I took him out, Doctor,"
Sam said calmly.
Sam opened his hand. Floating above his palm was a bright, glowing green ball of soul energy and gamma radiation.
With his other hand, Sam reached into his pocket and pulled out a spare, blank wooden doll.
It was exactly like the one Little D lived in.
Sam gently pushed the glowing green ball right into the wooden doll.
The small piece of wood absorbed all the soul energy and gamma radiation instantly.
The plain wood slowly turned a bright, healthy green color.
Small, grumpy eyebrows and a cute little mouth appeared on the wooden face.
The doll blinked, stretched its tiny arms, and stood up on Sam's palm.
"Little H,"
Sam smiled, giving him a new name.
Little H looked down at his new, solid wooden body. He clenched his tiny fists.
To test his new home, Little H jumped off Sam's hand and punched the solid brick wall next to them.
*BOOM!*
The entire brick wall instantly shattered into dust.
Bruce screamed and covered his head.
Little H was tiny, but he was just as strong as the giant Hulk.
But because he wasn't trapped in a human body fighting for control anymore, his mind was clear.
He had perfect control over his massive strength.
Just then, Little D peeked her head out of Sam's front pocket.
She looked at the tiny green wooden boy.
"Hello,"
Little D said in her soft, polite voice.
"Are you my new brother?"
Little H looked at the small wooden girl. He didn't roar.
Instead, he gave a happy little grunt and gently patted her wooden head.
They became fast friends instantly.
Bruce slowly stood up from the ground.
He looked at the tiny, ridiculously strong green doll, completely speechless.
"He's... he's really a separate person?"
Bruce whispered, tears of relief forming in his eyes.
"And he is not a monster?"
"He never was a monster,"
Sam said, looking at the little guy.
"He was just a scared kid locked in a dark room."
Little H climbed up Sam's pants and sat on his shoulder. He looked at Sam's calm, smiling face.
For his whole life, everyone had screamed at him.
They shot bullets at him and called him a beast.
Even Bruce hated him and tried to lock him in a cage.
But Sam was different. Sam wasn't afraid.
Sam talked to him nicely, gave him a real body, and took him out of the dark, scary cage.
Little H wrapped his tiny, strong wooden arms around Sam's neck and hugged him tightly.
"Papa,"
Little H said in a happy, rough little voice.
Sam laughed warmly and patted the little green doll on the back.
"Let's go home, Little H,"
Sam smiled.
"And Doctor Banner... if you are ready to use your big brain to help save the world, my team is waiting for us in New York."
Bruce looked at Sam, and then he looked at the little green wooden doll sitting on Sam's shoulder.
For the first time in years, Bruce didn't feel a heavy weight pressing down on his chest.
His mind was completely clear and quiet.
He didn't have to check his pulse or monitor his heart rate.
He didn't have to be afraid of getting angry or losing control ever again.
The nightmare was finally over.
He was truly free.
"I'll do it,"
Bruce said, a real, genuine smile appearing on his tired face.
"I will help you find the Tesseract. It feels really good to just be a scientist again."
"Glad to have you on the team, Doctor,"
Sam smiled, gesturing for Bruce to follow him.
They walked out of the quiet alley and back into the busy, colorful market.
Along the way, Sam stopped at a small street food cart.
He bought some warm, sweet dough snacks.
He broke off two small pieces and handed them up to his shoulders.
Little D and Little H grabbed the snacks eagerly.
The two tiny wooden dolls sat comfortably, happily taking bites of the sweet food together.
Little H chewed loudly, a big, happy smile replacing his grumpy frown.
Little D ate quietly and politely wiped her mouth with her tiny black sleeve.
Bruce watched them eat as they walked through the crowd.
His brilliant scientific mind was completely baffled.
"How are they doing that?"
Bruce asked, pointing at the dolls in pure confusion.
"They are made of wood. They don't have biological stomachs or digestive systems. How can they eat?"
Sam laughed softly. He expected the smart doctor to ask exactly that.
"It is not normal wood, Bruce,"
Sam explained simply, walking at a relaxed pace.
"And it is not a normal carving. The puppet technique I use is an ancient, divine level technique. It goes far beyond normal science."
Bruce listened closely, fascinated by this new world of magic.
"When I create a body for a soul using this technique, the wood completely changes,"
Sam continued to explain.
"It mimics real flesh and blood. They have every single sense a human has. They can taste the sweetness of the food, they can feel the warm sun on their faces, and they can feel pain if they get hurt."
Little H nodded his heavy wooden head to prove Sam's point.
"Yummy,"
Little H grunted happily, taking another big bite of his sweet snack.
Bruce just shook his head in absolute wonder.
"Magic is terrifying and completely illogical,"
Bruce muttered, but he couldn't stop smiling.
He had spent his whole life relying on hard science and numbers, and it had turned him into a monster.
Now, a man who practiced ancient magic had just saved his life with a wooden doll.
Bruce didn't care if it made sense anymore. He was just happy to be going home.
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