"Professor Charles, I have some unfortunate news."
Inside the office of Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters, Schiller held a medical record, frowning and speaking seriously, "Yesterday, I did a new round of check-ups on Dr. Bruce Banner, and the situation of the personality within him is not optimistic."
"What happened?" Charles asked with great concern.
"Do you remember? We guided Dr. Banner to build his own Thought Palace, but Dr. Banner is a scholar, and the mental architecture in his ideal... is relatively dry and boring."
"In his psychic battlefield, he built an iron city, similar to Tony's. However, such an environment can easily stimulate that unstable personality."
Schiller sighed, looked at the medical record, and said, "Last night, I visited his psychic battlefield. That personality, known as the Hulk, lived in a room in a building, surrounded by robots, just like being trapped in a cage."
"Before, we suggested to him to treat the Hulk like a child, so Dr. Banner specifically commissioned a playground for him. Perhaps it's because Dr. Banner himself has never been to a playground, the toys in that playground are nothing but mechanical parts and rockets, which are not suitable for Hulk to relieve stress."
"As a result, the Hulk, who is locked in a mechanical prison, has worsened. Recently, he has started to destroy city buildings. Last night, I did my best to soothe him, but this isn't a long-term solution."
Charles also sighed, saying, "An adult personality cannot be easily reversed, regardless of how much external force is applied. In the end, it still depends on their own drive to change."
"Obviously, Banner is unwilling to change his current lifestyle. He doesn't want to spend a lot of time playing or visiting playgrounds. He plunges all his life into scientific research."
"Yes, exactly," Schiller affirmed this point, saying, "However, Dr. Banner is an adult. He can accept this lifestyle, but the Hulk inside him cannot."
Schiller sat down opposite Charles, gently jabbing at the medical record with his finger and saying, "The Hulk is Bruce Banner in his childhood."
"During that time, he suffered too much violence, forming a destructive personality in his heart. Banner grew up, but the Hulk did not. He is still like a child, without mature mentality. It is the anger and rebellion he felt against the violent treatment during his childhood."
"Such a personality should live in as comfortable and happy an environment as possible, instead of staring at boring data and cold steel everyday."
"Haven't you persuaded Bruce?" Charles looked at Schiller and asked.
"Of course I've persuaded him. But perhaps because of the shadows in his heart, he has been avoiding things related to childhood, like toys and playgrounds. The look in his eyes when he sees these things reminds me of many children who have suffered domestic violence that I have diagnosed."
"They longed for such things because they never had them, but they were also afraid of them because they knew that as long as they made similar requests, a terrible abuse would certainly come."
Schiller and Charles sighed in unison. Just like what Charles said, many shadows deeply planted in the personality might be able to fade under the influence of external forces, but the personalities that have formed as a result are hard to change.
"We can only carry out another plan we've discussed before," Schiller said in a low voice. "It won't cure the root cause, but at least it can reduce destruction."
"You are saying, let the Hulk vent his destructive desire in an uninhabited cosmos in order to reduce losses?" Charles meditated, "This is indeed a solution, but would Bruce agree?"
"I asked him for his opinion last time. Dr. Banner is a good person. He doesn't want to destroy the city. If there are uninhabited planets for the Hulk to play with, he has no objections. But at that time, to lure the Hulk out, we might need your help, Professor."
"Don't worry, just tell me the time and place. I will be there on time," Charles said with a gentle smile.
After leaving Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters, Schiller went to discuss with Stark and Strange about the location for the Hulk to vent and destroy. Then he went to see Banner.
When Schiller arrived at Banner's lab, he was busy with an experiment. The whole laboratory was very bright, filled with soft light everywhere.
Hearing the noise, Banner turned his head and saw that it was Schiller. He was surprised and happily came forward before Schiller could speak, saying excitedly,
"Dr. Schiller, this halo of yours is really useful! It's very bright, allowing any object to be free of shadows. This is of great help to my observation of mechanical structures; that is... it's a bit embarrassing to ask, but could I borrow it for a few days?"
"Not a problem at all," Schiller nodded and said, "It also has other functions. I can show you, like this..."
Speaking of this, Schiller took over the halo, then shrank it and put it directly into his pocket. Then he took it out again, and with a "swish," the light on it went out and the entire halo disappeared.
Schiller made a gesture as if handing something over, and Banner instinctively tried to reach it, then he felt the halo.
Although it was invisible at the moment, it could still be touched. Schiller explained, "This thing can be zoomed in and out, and you can control the light freely, as long as you hold it in your hand and think about it."
Banner took the halo and tried it out, then found it to be indeed the case. He was even happier and said with a laugh, "It's just right. I was worrying about how to carry it to and from work."
"Thank you, thank you for trusting me so much..." Banner stuttered, "Thank you for not treating me like a monster."
Schiller shook his head, patted Banner on the shoulder, and without saying a word, after falling silent for a while, he said, "The thing I talked to you about last night... "
Banner nodded and said, "This does appear to be the best method now, but it's still a bother for so many people to accompany me..."
"No worries, Doctor, you're not only a treasure of human civilization but also our friend. See you in a week."
"See you in a week."
The location chosen for the Hulk to unleash his fury is a dark but not empty star system not far from the Solar System. The numerous celestial bodies in this system are ideal for Hulk to smash.
Once everything is ready, everyone takes charge of their respective roles. Charles is responsible for bringing out the Hulk from Banner, Shiller is responsible for recording the mental states of Banner and Hulk, Strange is responsible for cleaning up the mess, and Stark is purely there for the spectacle.
Or more accurately, Venom is eager to see the spectacle.
The neural implant system hasn't completely adapted yet, so during this period, Venom can only stay inside Stark, helping him deal with the rejection reaction. Stark, who can't stand Venom's constant chattering, can only bring him outside to watch the sparks fly.
Finally, Banner arrives and stands in the prepared survival base. With Shiller's command, an angry roar is heard, and the base instantly explodes into pieces.
The Hulk rises into the sky and with a punch catapults a small asteroid out of the way. A fully raged Hulk smashing stars with each punch is merely standard operation.
Although the scene is spectacular, the actual process isn't very interesting to watch— it's like watching a husky running amok at home. A purely non-logical destructive process is not a form of art that humans can appreciate. The group loses interest after a while.
"Forget it, I'm going to take a look around and see if there are any resource planets in the area," Stark shakes his head and flies away.
The rest of the crew have their own jobs and can't leave, so Stark alone goes to explore. After a while, other than desolate planets, no resources are found.
Just as he prepares to return in disappointment, JARVIS suddenly sounds an alarm:
"High energy lifeform detected approaching the Solar System! Warning! Warning! Warning!"
JARVIS's alarm is sudden, but Stark reacts instantly. He flies at high speed towards the Solar System, only to see a purple figure.
Just as he wants to continue flying, Venom shouts in his mind:
"Don't go! That's the Eternal Titan, you won't survive!"
"Eternal Titan? What is that?" Stark stops to ask as he flies.
"The Eternals living on Titan Planet, individual members of their race are very powerful, also known as the Titan Giants. But the symbiotic gene pool doesn't have a good reputation for them. I have a bit of impression about them. It seems my host has visited the territory of a Titan Giant, but I forgot," Venom says while trying to recall.
Stark slows down, not rushing as before, noticing that the adversary also seems to be unfamiliar with the way.
The giant takes out a communicator and seems to be contacting someone. Stark hesitates, then says, "I have to distract him now, or he might contact his spy on Earth and stir up trouble."
"NO! Don't go! Are you crazy? You can't beat him!" Venom cries out, "If you want to die, don't take me with you!"
But Stark doesn't respond at all, he just heads straight there. Seeing this, Venom can only cover his chest and joints with a layer of black mucus to protect vital parts of the body.
Thanos, who's contacting his subordinates, senses someone approaching. Assuming it's someone coming to assist him, he turns to find an unfamiliar face.
"Hey, Big guy! This! Come here!" Stark makes a provocative gesture at Thanos. While Thanos doesn't understand what he's saying, the gesture and attitude are universal.
Thanos snorts, already consumed with rage.
One could tell how angry he is by his current actions. Although arrogant, Thanos is not stupid and knows that there many strong beings in the universe. Therefore, he always fully prepares himself with weapons and an army.
But this time, he's so blinded by rage he comes alone. In his opinion, his own strength, coupled with one of the Black Obsidian five, Black Dwarf, who had previously arrived at the Solar System, is enough to annihilate these weak humans.
"He looks really angry! Why aren't you getting out of here?" Venom's voice keeps echoing in Stark's ears. "Now, I kind of prefer the wimp! At least he won't get us killed!!!"
"Shut up, wimp!" Stark retorts.
Seeing Stark getting closer and closer to Thanos, Venom has no other choice but to release all its symbiotic factors, completely covering Stark's body.
At first, when Thanos saw Stark, he didn't want to bother with him. He just wanted to find a man named Shiller and make him pay the price.
But the moment Venom emerged, Thanos let out a furious roar that echoed through the cosmos:
"Venom!!! So it was you who dumped shit on the Star Port in the Dark Quadrant??!!!"