10119/Red Menace III

Red Menace III
Date of Scene:	14 February 2022
Location:	Vista Verde, New Mexico
Synopsis:	The Hulk and She-hulk find the Leader's base...only to be imprisoned inside a facility built to restrain the Hulk by General Ross!
Cast of Characters:	Betty Ross, Jennifer Walters

---

Betty Ross has posed:
    So there you are. In the desert.

    This is Bruce finally lost control of his temper for that crucial moment, and Hulked out. And the Hulk then decided to go smash the Leader. Which mostly involved going in a that way direction in great leaps, looking for him. Of course, She-Hulk gave pursuit, but somehow the big guy has lost you in some of the nearby canyons and arroyos between the mesas here.

    Hopefully she brought a flashlight!

Jennifer Walters has posed:
    Why bring a flashlight when you've got a cell phone? Jen brings it out and turns on the flashlight function and starts chasing after her cousin. This Leader person doesn't sound like he's going to be so easy to smash, and she's going to want to try to keep the collateral damage down to a minimum. Hopefully the batteries will last.

    It takes a bit for Jen to orient herself and go in the right direction. After all, the only trail are small craters in the ground spaced wide apart. Each crater she has to stop and study to try to orient herself in the right direction, and then she's off like the Flash, running at top speed.

Betty Ross has posed:
    It's relatively easy to run, there's not much but grit and sand and rock around. Unfortunately, it's the occasional cactus or scrubby tree that needs to be dodged that cause the most problems. Also the echos. You can vaguely hear the Hulk and the smashing sounds of him moving around, but the echos off the canyon walls are making it difficult to zero in on him.

    Though you do stumble over something unexpected. That being a military truck sitting out in the middle of nowhere, parked by a mesa.

Jennifer Walters has posed:
    "Damn it!" Jen yells, when she skirts too close to a cactus that rips her pants. Her skin is, of course, unblemished. It takes more than needles to pierce her hide. She slows down when she gets into the canyon, taking her time now, making sure she's going in the right direction.

    The military truck is a surprise, though. She wonders what it's doing here in the middle of nowhere. She approaches it calling out, "Hello? Anybody alive in there?"

Betty Ross has posed:
    No one appears to be here. But up close, it has a Hulkbuster insignia on the door. The back is hanging open, and there are signs of footprints in the gritty dirt around the back, that leads off into another direction into the canyons.

    There are some bullet holes in the side, when you get up close. Rugged vehicle apparently.

Jennifer Walters has posed:
    "Strange..." Jenn says, examining the vehicle. "This wasn't the Hulk's doing. A third party maybe?" She looks off into the distance to where whoever was the occupant of the vehicle ran off to. "Wish I could check it out, but I've got a Hulk to catch." With that she's off again, hot on the trail of her cousin.

Betty Ross has posed:
    Back on the trail! Well, the recently smashed rocks generally provide a good trail along with the craters. At least he's not jumping full strength now. "WHERE PUNY BIG HEAD MAN!?!?" he roars. Okay, so not too far away from you. Maybe a half mile thataway. You can vaguely see him leaping up on top of a mesa that's a mile further, then stopping to look around.

Jennifer Walters has posed:
    Finally! Jen runs after the Hulk until she can get close enough to get his attention. "Bruce! Hulk! Slow down! You'll never find him that way!" Big head man? He must mean the Leader.

Betty Ross has posed:
    The Hulk grunts at that, grumbling at Jen as she catches up. "Hulk will FIND big head man. Hulk will SMASH big head man!" He stomps on the ground with a growl, cracking the rock a bit.

    Which is where you'll notice a tall, slender green man with a large head and a high colored costume, almost a robe, standing not far away. Maybe fifty meters.

    The Hulk pauses, blinking as he sees him, his fingers curling up into vists again. "BIG HEAD MAN!"

    The man in question waves cheerily at the pair.

Jennifer Walters has posed:
    Jen manages to catch up to the pair, breathing heavily. Running all out like that can take the wind out of you. "Wait! Hulk! Let's not get ahead of ourselves and smash..." She comes up short when the man in question doesn't seem all that bothered by impending smashiness and gives her a wave.

    "Uh. Hi," she says smartly. "You must be The Leader that everybody's talking about."

Betty Ross has posed:
    The man doesn't respond. He just keeps waving. And smiling. A big ole smarmy smile, full of teeth. Predictably, this does not please the Hulk.

    "RAAAAAARRRGH!" He leaps at the man bringing both hands up for maximum smashitude!

    ....then sails right through the man and the "rock" beyond as he disrupts the hologram and falls through it out of sight with a snarl of frustration!

    A moment later theres's a clang as a thick looking door starts to slide closed over the hole in question as the man makes a slightly mocking salute, then the hologram flickers off and vanishes.

Jennifer Walters has posed:
    "Oh crap!" Jen says, rushing to the door as it starts to slide. Hopefully she'll be able to catch it before it closes and lever it back open.

Betty Ross has posed:
    A quick hop skip and a leap and you're plummeting down the dark hole with no idea what awaits you at the bottom, as the heavy metal door slides shut and seals above you, cutting off the moonlight from outside. Which is where you're hit by a strong gust of air from all directions. The walls appears to be covered in high powered fans. It's enough that it's keeping you in the exact center of the passage...away from where you can reach a wall to push off from. Likewise, the Hulk is plummeting but unable to grab hold of anything to stop his descent currently.

Jennifer Walters has posed:
    Jen tries to keep herself oriented feet down so when she lands, it won't be flat on her face. "I've got a bad feeling about this..." she says. "I think we just leapt into a trap."

Betty Ross has posed:
    Suddenly there?s a hard gust below as a large hatch opens in the side and the Hulk is sent careening through it. A similar hatch opens the other direction as you?re blown through and carried by the winds straight into a grey featureless room where you can finally touch down. ?What was your first clue?? says Sterns, as another hologram pops into existence. ?I see you?re not a complete brute, unlike your compatriot.?

Jennifer Walters has posed:
    Jen straightens her clothes, after landing on her feet. "I don't know," she says slowly, taking in her surroundings. "The big mocking hologram? The long slide into a featureless room?" She paces out the dimensions of the room, trailing her fingers along the wall trying to see if there's any hidden crevasses.

    "I normally don't charge headlong into traps, but sometimes that's the fastest way to get to the trap maker."

Betty Ross has posed:
    ?I?m sure you completely planned things out before jumping into the dark hole.? Sterns says, sarcasm heavy in his voice. ?But even a stopped clock is right twice a day. This facility was actually made for precise that purpose. Not for you, of course. But your cousin...? He smirks. ?One of General Ross?s little would be prisons, had he ever had the wit and tactical genius to actually capture the big green oaf.?

    The hologram paces closer. ?I, on the other hand, of course was aware of your present and your tendency to complicate matters, so I prepared for either or both of you arriving. Admittedly, I?d hope the gamma dart my drone used to push your cousin past his zone of control would be sufficient for him arriving first, but I don?t begrudge two birds in the hand.?

Jennifer Walters has posed:
    Jen lets out a belabored sigh and pinches the bridge of her nose. "It's 'a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.' What you're /looking/ for is 'kill two birds with one stone.'" She shakes her head exasperatedly, "I swear. Self proclaimed world's smartest man and he can't get his metaphors right."

Betty Ross has posed:
Sterns narrows his eyes. ?I was using a variant of the former. It?s called wit and requires a basic understanding of language manipulation.? He shrugs. ?But I can?t expect a monster to know that sort of thing, even if you?d managed to scrape together enough brain cells to pass law school. As if that?s an award. I?ve met plenty of lawyers and often their brain power combined couldn?t be enough to turn on a light bulb. Much less a woman lawyer.?

    He waves it away. ?But, here you are. In a hole. In the ground. Defeated by my superior intellect. Get used to that.?

Jennifer Walters has posed:
    Jen folds her arms and scowls at Sterns. "I mean... I /understand/ it," she says. "It's just not very good." She's still running her hands along the edges of the walls as she talks. "And really. A hole in the ground? That's the best you got? I mean, seriously. Wiley E. Coyote could come up with something better."

Betty Ross has posed:
    "Oh please. Even someone of your limited intellect can tell that I?d hardly put you in JUST a hole." Sterns waves around. "As I said, this little facility was originally intended to cage the monster himself. You?ll find it just as effective in keeping you from accomplishing much. Really, it doesn?t matter to me what you do." He waves away the thought. "I have things to accomplish of my own, and plans that will come to fruition shortly. At that point, it will hardly matter where you are...I?ll have a whole army of creatures just....like...you."

    He smiles evilly. "An army that won?t really be able to think well, but that?s hardly a problem. They have me to direct them, after all. I will be their Leader...I will be everyone?s Leader, now that I?ve discovered how to unlock that tricky little gamma mutation that your cousin discovered in his unfortunate irradiation."

    "And really, I have you to thank for that. If not for your particular transformation, simply by being exposed to gamma infused blood...well. It might have taken me longer to figure out how to trigger it in people without the naturally occurring gene."

Jennifer Walters has posed:
    Good. Keep him gloating. The more he talks the more he'll reveal his plans. "Just like me?" Jen snorts. "Doubtful. I can't see you making anything as gorgeous, sassy, /or/ intelligent as me." Having made her way around the room and not finding anything she moves to the center and looks at the ceiling to see if she can figure out where the hologram is being projected from.

    "And if you're talking about Bruce, here, well, how in hell are you going 'direct' them?" She gives the hologram a sly grin, "I mean, it worked /so well/ with General Ross. Real work of genius, there."

Betty Ross has posed:
It's possible some of the shiny bits on the walls are actually projector lenses. They're flush with the wall so hard to see.

Betty Ross has posed:
    It's possible some of the shiny bits on the walls are actually projector lenses. They're flush with the wall so hard to see.

    "Ah, but I am not as limited in imagination as you." the Leader says, smirking again, then makes a 'come here' gesture off camera.

    And then a woman joins him. She's about your size, with the same musculature, with shaggy shoulder length hair, black, with red streaks running through the bangs. Red, much like the rest of her. She's fitted into a vest style top that gives her ladies room to breath and military style black trousers and kicking boots, with eyes that are pure yellow.

    She smirks at the camera, then raises a hand, wiggling her fingers in greeting.

Jennifer Walters has posed:
    Jen looks down from scanning the room to watch the hologram. She narrows her eyes when she sees Red She-Hulk for the first time. "To be honest, making me-but-red doesn't take /that/ much imagination," she quips. "What's next? Iron Man armor but purple?"

    She shakes her head. "You may be smart, but you're not /clever./ You're just recycling old ideas. Red Hulk, Red She-Hulk, reusing this old trap that Ross built first. Hell, even the hulk dogs have been done before!" She looks at the Red She-Hulk and shakes her head, "I'm sorry, sister, but you can do better than him. If you're anything like me, /much/ better."

Betty Ross has posed:
"Such a limited imagination. You can't possibly understand the brilliance needed to create this..." he says, gesturing to Red She-Hulk. "Oh don't bother. She's quite obedient, with a bit of technical assistance." The Leader smirks. "I couldn't have her running amok like the other monsters. She's a model for what the rest of my army will become. A proof of concept, shall we say."

"As for the retreads, I admit I've had to work with what I had to start. But with the technology my muscular minion has brought me, I've been able to go quite beyond Ross's pitiful attempts to create a new super soldier. Amusing that he was, in his way, the first experimental subject I had."

    "THis eyes narrow. "You, on the other hand...you might be useful in some small way. I do need a janitor, after all. But you have a glimmer of the intellect that the green beast lacks, the ability to think for yourself...and that will be unnecessary in this brave new world of mine."

    Red She-Hulk folds her arms across her chest. "I'm not like you. I'm not in a cell." she snarks a bit. Though you notice her eyes tighten a bit at the Leader's dismissive attitude towards her.

Jennifer Walters has posed:
    Jen finds what she's looking for. Right /there/. That's where the hologram is coming from. "Well, it's been fun, but I think I've heard about all I wanted from the blowhard." Addressing the red She-Hulk she says, "Look me up when you decide to be your own independent woman, instead of playing hench-hulk to somebody who has, quite literally, an overinflated ego. Ta!"

    With that, she leaps up into the air, striking out with where she thinks the projector is at with two fingers. If this was designed to contain The Hulk, then it was designed for a raging beast, not for a skillful, precise strike. If her aim is true, then she'll leap at it again, to pry open the hole, and rip out the electronics. With any luck that should short out the whole system and turn off the fans.

Betty Ross has posed:
    Whether it turns out the fans outside is hard to say, but it certainly shorts out the holoprojector mid-sneer from the Leader. Blessed peace and quiet! Other than distant smashing sounds. Of course, now you're in a featureless room with no obvious way out. You suspect the route you came in with is probably the most reforced part of the wall by now.

Jennifer Walters has posed:
    "Finally!" Jen says once the room is quiet. "That man sure does like to hear himself talk, doesn't he, cuz." She looks about the place and starts pacing. "Now... let's figure out how we get out of this hole in the ground..."